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Cyclopedia 

"f 

Motion- Picture  Work 


A  General  Reference  Work  on 

THE     OPTICAL     LANTERN,     MOTION     HEAD,      SPECIFIC      PROJECTING 

MACHINES,    TALKING    PICTURES,    COLOR   MOTOGRAPHY,    FIXED 

CAMERA     PHOTOGRAPHY,     MOTOGRAPHY,     PHOTO-PLAYS, 

MOTION-PICTURE    THEATER,     MANAGEMENT    AND 

OPERATION,     AUDIENCE,    PROGRAM,    ETC. 


Prepared  by 
DAVID  S.   HULFISH 

TECHNICAL  EDITOR,    "THE  NICKELODEON;  "   SPECIALIST  IN  MOTION  PICTURES 


Illustrated  with   Over  Three  Hundred  Engravings 


TWO    VOLUMES 


CHICAGO 

AMERICAN  TECHNICAL  SOCIETY 
1914 


COPYRIGHT,  1911 


AMERICAN    SCHOOL    OF    CORRESPONDENCE 


COPYRIGHT,   1911 
BY 

AMERICAN    TECHNICAL    SOCIETY 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 
All  Rights  Reserved 


theater 
Arts 

77? 

85O 


.  y*2 

Foreword 


TWENTY  years  ago  the  motion  picture  was  a  child's  toy. 
Today  it  is  the  basis  of  a  business  giving  profitable 
employment  to  thousands  of  workers,  offering  amuse- 
ment and  education  to  millions  of  people,  and  involving  an 
investment  of  capital  that  places  it  among  the  world's  great 
industries. 

C,  The  motion-picture  maker  sets  up  his  whirring  camera  in  the 
wilds  and  the  crowded  city  alike.  He  records  the  downfall  of 
kings  and  the  inauguration  of  presidents,  the  horrors  of  great 
disasters  and  the  deeds  of  popular  heroes;  he  spreads  before 
us  in  moving  panorama  all  that  is  interesting  in  nature  and  in 
man's  work,  in  drama  and  in  real  life.  Every  large  city  has  its 
motion-picture  factory,  and  every  village  its  motion-picture 
theater.  Into  communities  too  small  to  support  a  theater  regu- 
larly comes  the  traveling  exhibitor  with  his  portable  outfit, 
and  shows  in  town  hall,  church,  or  country  school  house. 

C,  For  so  important  an  industry  a  book  of  reference  and 
instruction  is  more  than  merely  justified ;  it  is  demanded.  The 
motion-picture  field  is  broadening  day  by  day ;  the  details  of 
the  business  are  becoming  more  multitudinous  with  each 
advance.  The  worker  in  one  branch  of  activity  must  have 
some  knowledge  of  all  the  branches  to  be  able  to  get  the  best 
results  in  his  own  work.  This  Cyclopedia  of  Motion-Picture 
Work  is  the  first  compilation  to  cover  adequately  the  entire  field. 

C.  The  Art  of  the  motion  picture  comprises  two  principal 
industries:  the  manufacturing,  and  the  exhibiting,  of  film 


pictures.  Both  of  these  fields  are  covered  by  this  Cyclopedia. 
The  worker  in  either  will  be  deeply  interested  in  the  detail 
and  technique  of  the  other,  and  will  profit  by  that  broader 
knowledge.  The  beginner  requires  a  complete  knowledge  of 
both  branches  to  fit  himself  for  work  in  either  branch. 

C.  The  drawings,  diagrams,  and  photographs  incorporated  into 
the  Cyclopedia  have  been  prepared  especially  for  this  work; 
and  their  instructive  value  is  as  great  as  that  of  the  text  itself. 
They  have  been  used  to  illustrate  and  expand  the  text,  and  not 
as  a  medium  around  which  to  build  the  text.  Both  drawings 
and  diagrams  have  been  rendered  as  simply  as  was  compatible 
with  their  correctness,  with  a  view  to  making  them  as  nearly 
as  possible  self-explanatory. 

C.  The  Cyclopedia  is  a  compilation  of  many  of  the  most  valuable 
Instruction  Papers  of  the  American  School  of  Correspondence, 
and  the  method  adopted  in  its  preparation  is  that  which  this 
School  has  developed  and  employed  so  successfully  for  many 
years.  This  method  is  not  an  experiment,  but  has  stood  the 
severest  of  all  tests— that  of  practical  use— which  has  demon- 
strated it  to  be  the  best  yet  devised  for  the  education  of  the 
busy  man. 


fable    of  Contents 


VOLUME  II 
PHOTOGRAPHY  .       .  .       .  By  D.  S.  Hulfish  Page  *11 

Camera — Images — Lenses — Focus — Aberration — Astigmatism — Shutters — Plate- 
holder— Darkroom— Camera  Operation— Principal  Object— Background— Light- 
ing— Point  of  View — Distortion — Dry  Plates  and  Films — Exposure — Development 
— Ruby  Lamp — Washing — Focusing — Developing  Formulas — Printing — Papers — 
Lens  Printing— Lantern  Slides— Stereographs— Panoramas— Telephotography— 
Orthochromatic  Photography— Colored  Photographs— Tri-color  Photography— 
Orthochrome  Plates 

MOTOGRAPHY   .        .        .        ,      '.  v     .        .   By  D.  S.  Hulfish         Page  69 

Chronophotography — Kinephotography— Subjects:  Travels,  Industrials,  Current 
Events,  Dramas,  Comedies,  Chases,  Trick  Pictures — Production — Author — Plot — 
Scenario  —  Drama  Scrip  —  Comedy  Scrip  —  Chase  and  Trick  Scrip— Trick  Notes 
—Travel  Scrip— Travel  and  Comedy  Scrip— Industrial  Scrip— Producer— Studios 
— Properties — Costumes — Actors — Rehearsals — Producing  a  Drama — Salesman — 
Film  Industry— Lectures— Release  Dates— Shipments  of  Films— Contracts— Title 
Posters  —  Reproduction  — [Photographer  —  Raw  Film  —  Storage  —  Perforation  — 
Camera  Man  —  Camera — Loading  Film  Holders  —  Turning  Crank  —  Setting  Up 
Camera — Focusing — Control  of  Image — Shutter — Exposure — Reversing; — Finders 
—Indicator— Marker— Development  of  Films— Making  Titles— Printing— Color- 
ing Films  —  Waterproofing  —  Photographic  Equipment  —  Chronophotography— 
Trick  Pictures 

MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER       .        .       .       By  D.  S.  Hulfish       Page  165 

Management — The  "Sick"  Theater-*-Competition — Traffic — Managing  a  Theater 
for  Profit— Starting  a  Theater— Location— Financing— Store- Front  City  Theater 
—Sloping  Floor— Stage  — Typical  Program  —  Country  Theater— Airdome— Audi- 
ences— Advertising — Poster  Service — Electric  Signs — Special  Programs — Renting 
Films— Song  Slides— Automatic  Music— Vaudeville  — Accounts  — Dull  Season  — 
Tickets  and  Chopper— Side  Lines  for  Profit 

ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES        ...       ,   '    ;       .       ,       '.       .       Page  213 

Current — Electromotive  Force— Resistance — Ohm's  Law— Primary  Cells — Stor- 
age Batteries  —  Electromagnetism  —  Circuits  —  Wiring  Methods  —  Planning  an 
Installation— Wiring  an  Office  Building— Switchboard— Wiring  Diagrams— Cut- 
out Panels  —  Bushings  —  Fuse  Boxes  — Fuses— Arc  Lamp  for  Moving-Picture 
Machines— Mercury-Arc  Rectifiers  for  Motion  Pictures 


REVIEW  QUESTIONS       .        .       ..'••'••      •  ••    .'      ...       .        Page  287 
INDEX  .  •..  •  .  *    .  .        .        Page  297 


*  For  page  numbers,  see  foot  of  pages. 


~£ 


PHOTOGRAPHY 

THEORY 

The  making  of  photographs  may  be  divided  into  three  very 
general  or  theoretical  steps :  First,  producing  an  image  of  the  scene 
or  object  of  which  it  is  desired  to  make  a  photograph.  Second, 
reco  ding  the  image  in  permanent  form.  Third,  copying,  multiply- 
ing, or  reproducing  the  image  into  as  many  finished  photographs 
as  may  be  desired. 

Any  of  these  steps  may  be  accomplished  in  any  of  several  ways 
by  the  photographer,  according  to  the  results  which  he  desires  to 
attain,  or  according  to  the  limitations  of  the  apparatus  which  he  has 
available.  Thus,  images  usually  are  formed  for  photography  by 
means  of  a  lens;  but  if  the  photographer  has  no  lens,  or  arbitrarily 
decides  not  to  use  it,  he  may  form  an  image  without  it.  The  image 
formed  being  composed  of  rays  of  light  of  different  strengths,  the 
second  step  taken  by  placing  in  the  image  a  surface  bearing  a 
substance  which  is  sensitive  to  light  and  which  will  be  discolored  to 
different  degrees  by  the  different  strengths  of  the  different  rays  and  by 
the  spots  of  light  formed  by  them  in  the  image.  This  second  step 
produces  the  record  of  the  image,  and  from  it  a  number  of  finished 
photographs  may  be  produced  in,  a  manner  not  altogether  unlike 
the  production  of  several  thousand  newspapers  by  a  printing  press 
after  the  typesetters  have  made  ready  the  printing  types  and  the 
engravers  have  made  ready  the  printing  picture  plates. 

MECHANICAL  DETAILS 

Camera.  The  camera  is  a  dark  box  within  which  the  photog- 
rapher forms  the  image.  The  light  is  admitted  to  the  camera  dur- 
ing the  making  of  the  photograph,  and  in  most  cameras  during  the 
preparation  for  the  photograph  and  the  proper  adjustment  of  the 
camera  for  forming  the  desired  image. 

Pin=hole  Image.  To  understand  just  how  the  image  is  formed 
in  the  camera,  perform  the  following  experiment: 

Copyright,  1911,    by  American    School  of  Correspondence. 


11 


2  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Take  a  paper  box,  white  inside,  about  the  size  of  a  shoe  box. 
Remove  half  of  the  lid.  In  the  middle  of  one  end  of  the  box,  punch  a 
hole  with  a  darning  needle,  making  a  hole  about  TV  inch  in  diameter, 
with  smooth  edges.  Place  the  box  in  the  window,  the  hole  toward 
the  street,  and  with  the  half-lid  on  that  part  of  the  top  of  the  box 
near  the  street.  Draw  the  shade  to  the  top  of  the  box,  and  obscure 
the  remainder  of  the  window  as  well  as  other  windows  of  the  room 
so  that  the  only  light  received  will  be  through  the  small  hole  in  the 
end  of  the  box— the  pin-hole  as  it  is  termed  in  photography,  Fig.  1. 
On  the  inside  of  the  box,  at  the  end  opposite  the  pin-hole,  there  will 


/      'MAGE 


Fig.  1.     Pin-hole  Image 


be  formed  an  image  of  the  objects  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street.  The  image  may  be  viewed  through  the  open  half  of  the 
top  of  the  box,  and  will  be  seen  a  living  image,  in  natural  colors,  but 
inverted,  its  size  depending  upon  the  length  of  the  box.  Try  it  with 
boxes  of  different  lengths,  or  moving  a  white  card  in  the  box. 

Inverted  Image.  The  reason  why  the  image  is  inverted  is  shown 
in  Fig.  2,  in  which  the  object,  the  pin-hole,  and  the  image  are  rep- 
resented. All  rays  of  light  pass  in  straight  lines,  and  all  the  light 
from  the  top  of  the  tree  at  the  right  which  gets  through  the  pin-hole 
passes  in  a  straight  line  to  the  bottom  of  the  image  at  the  left;  light 
from  the  bottom  of  the  tree  goes  to  the  top  of  the  image.  This  is 
true  for  every  point  of  the  view;  hence,  the  view  is  inverted  in  the 
image. 


12 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


3 


Now  with  a  lead  pencil,  enlarge  the  pin-hole  until  the  pencil 
can  pass  through.  Note  the  difference  in  the  image.  It  is  blurred. 
Each  point  in  the  scene  makes  a  spot  in  the  image  as  large  as  the 
hole  in  the  box;  yet  the  image  as  a  whole  is  brighter.  A  spectacle 
lens  placed  over  the  hole  in  the  box  might  make  the  image  sharp, 
but  at  this  point  the  pin-hole  experiment  may  be  abandoned  and 
the  working  of  the  photographer's  camera  as  it  is  commercially 
used  may  be  taken  up  to  complete  the  study  of  the  first  step  in  theory, 
or  the  formation  of  the  image  in  practice. 

Buying  a  Camera.  The  learner  who  intends  either  to  make 
moving  pictures  after  learning  still  photography,  or  to  make  good 
still  photographs,  must  first  purchase  a  tripod  camera.  Concern- 
ing the  work  of  hand  cameras,  a  photographer  handling  amateur 
work  at  a  holiday  resort  is  quoted  as  saying  that  of  more  than  a 


Fig.  2.     Inverted  Image 

thousand  negatives  developed  by  him  in  one  summer  there  were 
not  twenty  good  pictures  and  hardly  forty  good  negatives.  Only 
with  the  tripod  camera  can  the  photographer  know  what  he  is  doing 
and  then  operate  his  camera  intelligently  and  successfully. 

The  camera  purchased  for  intelligent  work  must  be  either 
4-inch  by  5-inch  size,  with  bellows  draw  of  12  inches  or  more,  or 
5-inch  by  7-inch  size,  with  bellows  draw  of  15  inches  or  more.  Smaller 
than  4  by  5  is  too  small  for  intelligent  work  by  the  ambitious  amateur, 
and  larger  than  5  by  7  is  too  heavy  for  amateur  work.  In  either 
case,  the  camera  should  have  a  single  swing,  and  must  have  a  rising 
front  and  holders  for  glass  plates;  it  may  have  a  convertible  rectilinear 
lens  or  a  more  expensive  convertible  anastigmatic  lens,  but  in  either 
case  the  lens  must  be  convertible  and  should  be  equipped  with  an 
iris  diaphragm  and  an  automatic  shutter.  The  usefulness  of  each 
of  these  features  will  appear  as  the  operation  of  the  camera  is  de- 


13 


4  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

scribed.  A  camera  4  by  5  may  be  had  at  a  catalogue  price  of  $25.00 
or  more,  and  a  camera  5  by  7  at  $33.00  or  more,  filling  all  require- 
ments. Two  extra  plate-holders  should  be  bought,  that  six  plates 
may  be  carried  into  the  field.  A  tripod  and  focusing  cloth  complete 
the  necessary  field  equipment,  with  the  possible  addition  of  an 
exposure  meter. 

Construction  of  Camera.  The  body  of  the  camera  consists 
of  the  back  frame,  the  front  frame,  and  a  base.  The  base  connects 
the  back  and  front  frames  and  upon  it  the  front  frame  moves  as 
upon  a  track.  Connecting  the  back  and  the  front  is  the  bellows. 
The  front  carries  the  lens,  mounted  upon  a  detachable  lens  board; 
the  back  carries  the  ground  glass  or  focusing  screen,  and  permits 
the  insertion  of  one  of  the  plate-holders  in  such  a  manner  that  when 
the  plate-holder  is  inserted  the  ground  glass  is  pushed  out  of  its 
normal  position  and  the  glass  plate  within  the  holder  occupies  the 
position  formerly  held  by  the  ground  glass. 

Place  the  camera  in  the  window  as  the  shoe  box  was,  and  open 
shutter  and  diaphragm.  The  shutter  is  opened  by  setting  its  index 
to  "T,"  or  "Time,"  and  operating  it  with  the  rubber  bulb.  The 
diaphragm  is  opened  by  setting  its  index  to  the  lowest  number, 
probably  8.  Extend  the  bellows  until  a  sharp  image  is  seen  upon 
the  ground  glass.  Look  at  the  ground  glass,  not  through  it.  If  the 
back  of  the  camera  and  the  operator's  head  are  covered  with  the 
focusing  cloth,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  darken  the  room  for  this 
experiment.  By  moving  the  camera  front  to  different  positions, 
it  will  be  observed  that  the  image  is  sharp  in  only  one  position. 
This  is  the  position  of  focus  of  the  lens. 

Lenses.  The  lens  is  composed  of  a  barrel  carrying  the  shutter 
and  iris  diaphragm  in  its  middle  portion  and  carrying  at  each  end 
a  "lens  cell,"  or  metal  mount,  into  which  the  glasses  of  the  lens 
are  fixed.  The  glasses  may  be  removed  from  the  lens  barrel  by  un- 
screwing their  mounts  from  the  barrel.  Unscrew  the  front  lens  cell 
and  extend  the  bellows  until  the  image  upon  the  ground  glass  is 
sharp  again.  This  is  the  focus  for  the  "back  combination,"  or  that 
cell  which  still  remains  in  the  lens.  The  bellows  is  longer,  the  image 
is  larger.  Sometimes  the  front  combination  of  the  lens  is  of  still 
longer  focus  than  the  back  combination,  giving  an  image  still  larger, 
but  with  still  longer  extension  of  the  bellows. 


14 


PHOTOGRAPHY  5 

Replace  the  lens  cells.     Select  in  the  image  a  distant  object, 
such  as  a  chimney  500  feet  away.    Focus  sharply  upon  it  by  moving 


Pig.  3.     Pin-hole  without  Lens 

the  camera  front  until  the  cnimney  is  sharp.  Note  a  near  object,  a 
house  or  tree  within  50  feet;  it  is  not  sharp.  To  focus  sharply  upon 
the  near  object,  it  is  necessary  to  extend  the  bellows  slightly.  Now 
the  distant  object  is  not  sharp.  Try  to  place  the  focus  between  the 
two;  then  reduce  the  iris  diaphragm  to  32  or  even  64.  Now  both 
distant  and  near  objects  are  sharp. 

Remove  both  lens  cells.  Shut  the  iris  diaphragm  as  close  as 
it  will  move.  Look  upon  the  ground  glass;  the  image  of  the  shoe 
box  is  there.  Move  the  bellows  to  different  lengths;  the  size  of  the 


Fig.   4.     Pin-hole  with  Lens 


pin-hole  image  is  changed  but  it  is  in  as  good  focus  in  one  place  as 
another.  The  pin-hole  image  has  no  definite  length,  and  everything, 
near  and  far,  is  in  focus.  Replace  the  lens  cells.  With  the  diaphragm 


15 


6  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

still  at  its  smallest  size,  the  lens  makes  the  image  sharper,  but  a 
position  may  be  found  at  which  everything  seems  to  be  in  focus, 
both  near  and  far  objects.  This  is  called  the  condition  of  universal 
focus. 

Focal  Length.  The  distance  from  the  ground  glass  to  the  center- 
of  the  lens  when  the  image  is  in  focus  upon  the  glass,  is  called  the 
focal  length  of  the  lens,  and  usually  is  expressed  in  inches.  The 
focal  length  of  the  two  combinations  or  cells  of  the  lens  when  used 
together  is  shorter  than  the  focal  length  of  either  of  them.  With  a 
5  by  7  lens,  the  complete  lens  should  have  a  focal  length  of  7  inches 
or  a  little  more;  each  of  the  combinations  alone  should  be  about  12 
inches,  or  one  of  them  about  11  and  the  other  about  14  inches. 


Fig.  5.     Lens  Image 

Figs.  3  and  4  show  the  action  of  the  lens.  The  glass  of  the 
lens  bends  the  rays  of  light,  which  proceed  from  a  point  in  the  sub- 
ject until  they  reach  the  lens  and  then  are  bent  by  the  lens  to  approach 
until  again  they  meet  in  a  point,  making  a  sharper  spot  of  light  on 
the  ground  glass  in  Fig.  4  with  the  lens  than  in  Fig.  3  where  the 
pin-hole  without  the  lens  is  shown.  This  is  true  of  all  points  of  the 
subject,  as  shown  in  Fig.  5. 

The  distance  from  the  lens  to  the  place  where  the  ray  again 
comes  to  a  point  depends  upon  the  strength  of  the  lens  in  bending 
the  rays,  and  this  distance  is  the  focal  length  of  the  lens.  In  Fig.  6 
the  back  lens  cell  alone  bends  the  light  to  bring  it  to  a  focus;  while 
in  Fig.  7  both  front  and  back  lens  cells  bend  the  light,  one  after  the 


16 


PHOTOGRAPHY  7 

other,  bending  it  to  a  much  greater  extent,  bringing  it  to  a  focus  in 
a  shorter  distance,  giving  a  shorter  focus  or  shorter  lens  length, 
and  producing  of  course  a  smaller  image  on  the  ground  glass. 


Measuring  Length.  Without  a  camera,  a  lens  may  be  measured 
approximately  by  focusing  the  image  of  the  sun  upon  any  convenient 
surface,  such  as  a  small  card,  then  measuring  with  a  ruler  the  distance 
from  the  middle  of  the  lens  barrel  to  the  card.  With  a  camera, 
focus  upon  a  very  distant  object,  and  measure  from  the  middle  of 
the  lens  barrel  to  the  ground  glass.  A  more  accurate  method,  where 
a  camera  of  sufficiently  long  bellows  is  available,  is  to  focus  upon 
any  close  object  until  the  image  on  the  ground  glass  is  exactly  the 
size  of  the  object.  Measure  the  distance  between  the  object  and  the 
ground  glass  and  divide  by  four.  To  make  this  measurement  con- 
veniently, cut  two  slips  of  paper  of  equal  length  and  attach  one  to 
the  ground  glass  and  the  other  to  the  glass  of  the  window.  Place 
the  camera  on  a  table  where  it  may  slide  toward  the  window  to 
change  the  size  of  the  image.  Use  the  largest  diaphragm  opening. 
WTien  the  edges  of  the  image  of  the  slip  of  paper  are  sharp  and 
when  the  image  on  the  ground  glass  and  the  slip  of  paper  on  the 
ground  glass  are  of  the  same  length,  the  distance  between  the  object 
and  the  image  will  be  four  times  the  focal  length  of  the  lens. 


Fig.  7.     Short-Focus  Lens 


Position  of  Diaphragm  Opening.  The  influence  upon  the 
image  of  the  diaphragm  opening,  or  "stop,"  and  of  its  position  with 
reference  to  the  lens  is  shown  in  Figs.  8,  9,  and  10.  In  each  of  these 
figures,  there  are  shown  a  photographic  subject  composed  of  straight 


17 


8  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

lines,  a  lens,  a  stop  opening,  and  an  image  of  the  subject  formed  by 
the  lens  through  the  diaphragm.  In  each  figure,  the  subject  and 
the  image  are  shown  in  a  front  view,  while  the  lens  and  diaphragm 


Fig.   8.     Barrel  Distortion 

are  shown  in  side  view,  or  rather  in  sectional  view  as  though  cut 
through  the  middle. 

In  Fig.  8,  the  diaphragm  opening  is  in  front  of  the  lens,  between 
the  lens  and  the  subject  to  be  photographed.  The  result  is  a  bend- 
ing of  all  the  straight  lines  of  the  image,  drawing  the  ends  of  the 
lines  toward  the  middle  line  of  the  image,  both  horizontally  and 
vertically.  This  form  of  distortion  is  called  barrel  distortion.  In 
Fig.  9,  the  diaphragm  opening  is  behind  the  lens,  between  the  lens 
and  the  image.  This  results  in  bending  the  lines  of  the  image  in  the 
opposite  direction,  and  produces  what  is  called  a  pin-cushion  dis- 
tortion. In  Fig.  10,  a  double  lens  is  shown,  the  glasses  of  the  lens 
being  divided  into  two  cells  with  the  diaphragm  or  stop  between 
them.  With  such  an  arrangement  the  pin-cushion  distortion  of  the 
front  lens  cell  is  just  balanced  by  the  barrel  distortion  of  the  back 
lens  cell,  and  the  resulting  image  has  all  its  lines  straight.  Such  a 
lens  is  called  a  rectilinear  lens.  To  avoid  distortion,  the  diaphragm 


Fig.  9.     Pin-cushion  Distortion 


must  be  placed  between  the  two  cells  at  the  proper  distance  from 
both.  Of  the  two  forms  of  distortion  shown  in  Figs.  8  and  9,  the 
barrel  distortion  is  the  less  objectionable,  and  when  a  single  lens 
is  used,  it  should  be  placed  in  the  back  end  of  the  lens  tube,  even 


18 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


9 


though  it  be  the  front  cell  of  the  complete  lens.  The  single  lens 
serves  satisfactorily  for  landscape  and  portrait  work,  in  either  of 
which  it  may  be  said  there  are  no  straight  lines  In  photographing 


Fig.   10.     Rectilinear  Lens 

architectural  subjects,  where  the  straight  lines  of  the  sides  of  build- 
ings are  near  the  edge  of  the  plate,  and  in  interiors,  only  the  rec- 
tilinear lens  may  be  used  if  passable  results  are  desired. 

Focusing.  Bringing  the  desired  image  into  focus  is  controlled 
by  the  position  of  the  ground  glass  at  the  proper  distance  from 
the  lens,  and  also  by  the  size  of  the  opening  in  the  diaphragm  or 
stop.  Every  point  in  the  image  is  formed  by  a  mass  of  light  rays 
which  is  conical  in  form,  as  big  as  the  stop  opening  at  the  lens,  and 
tapering  down  to  a  point  at  or  near  the  ground  glass.  When  the 
exact  tip  of  this  cone  is  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground  glass,  the 
point  is  in  focus  and  sharp  in  the  image.  When  the  tip  of  the  cone 
is  a  little  behind  or  in  front  of  the  ground  glass,  the  point  is  slightly 
blurred,  but  if  not  too  much  blurred  it  may  be  said  to  be  still  in 
focus.  The  amount  of  blur  depends  upon  the  size  of  the  cone  at 
the  place  where  the  ground  glass  is  met.  Fig.  11  shows  a  lens  with 


Fig.   11.     Lens  without  Diaphragm  Stop 

a  large  stop  opening.  The  point  B  of  the  subject  is  in  focus  at  the 
point  b  of  the  image;  the  point  A  of  the  subject  is  in  focus  at  the  point 
a  of  the  image.  With  the  ground  glass  at  the  vertical  line,  through 
a  the  point  A  will  be  sharp  and  the  point  B  will  be  blurred  in  the 
image.  With  the  ground  glass  at  the  vertical  line,  through  6  the 
point  B  will  be  sharp  in  the  image  and  the  point  A  will  be  blurred. 


19 


10 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Fig.  12  shows  the  same  system  with  a  smaller  stop  opening.  The 
cone  from  the  point  A  is  smaller  where  it  crosses  the  vertical  line 
through  b,  hence  the  blur  will  be  less,  and  the  focus  more  nearly 


Fig.  12.     Lens  with  Diaphragm  Stop 

correct.  With  the  ground  glass  midway  between  the  points  a  and  b, 
both  will  be  slightly  blurred,  but  the  blur  will  be  less  with  the  smaller 
top  opening,  Fig  12  "Depth  of  field"  in  an  image  refers  to  the 
distance  from  the  nearest  object  in  focus  to  the  farthest  object  in 
focus.  With  the  smaller  stop  opening,  the  depth  of  field  is  increased. 
Spherical  Aberration.  Lenses  ground  by  machines  present 
spherical  surfaces  upon  both  sides,  although  not  of  concentric 
spheres.  Such  a  lens  bends  a  ray  of  light  to  a  greater  degree  when 
the  ray  passes  through  the  lens  near  the  edge  than  when  the  ray 
passes  through  the  lens  near  the  center.  This  is  illustrated  in  Fig. 
13.  By  the  greater  bending,  the  rays  from  the  object  C  which  pass 
near  the  edge  of  the  lens  are  brought  to  focus  on  the  line  c,  while 
those  through  the  central  portion  are  brought  to  focus  upon  the 
line  c'.  This  defect  in  the  lens  is  reduced  by  the  use  of  a  lens  which 
is  meniscus  in  form,  having  one  convex  and  one  concave  surface, 
as  illustrated  in  Fig.  14.  It  is  reduced  also  by  the  use  of  a  smaller 
stop  opening,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  15. 


Pig.  13.     Spherical  Aberration  in  Convex  Lens 

Chromatic  Aberration.  The  light  rays  of  different  colors  are 
affected  to  different  degrees  by  the  refractive  attribute  of  the  glass 
of  the  lens.  The  violet  light  is  bent  through  a  greater  angle  than 
the  yellow  light,  and  the  remaining  colors,  as  well  as  the  ultra-violet 
rays,  are  changed  in  direction  through  different  angles.  This  pro- 


20 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


11 


duces  the  effect  of  bringing  the  different  colors  to  focus  at  different 
distances  from  the  photographic  lens  of  the  simplest  type,  viz,  of 
a  single  meniscus  piece  of  glass.  The  principle  involved  is  the  same 


Fig.   14.     Spherical  Aberration  in  Meniscus  Lens 

as  that  by  which  a  single  ray  of  white  light  is  separated  by  a  prism 
into  its  elementary  colors,  a  band  of  colored  rays  being  secured  by 
the  separation  of  the  single  white  ray. 

The  effect  in  a  photographic  lens  is  shown  in  Fig.  16.  The  ray 
of  white  light  from  the  point  D  of  the  subject  is  brought  to  focus  in 
several  different  points  according  to  the  colors  into  which  the  light 
is  separated.  The  yellow  light  is  brought  to  focus  at  the  line  d, 
while  the  violet  light  is  brought  to  focus  on  the  line  d'.  Of  all  the 
colors  composing  white  light,  yellow  affects  the  eye  to  the  greatest 
degree  and,  consequently,  in  focusing  the  camera  by  looking  at 
the  image  upon  the  ground  glass,  the  yellow  light  is  appreciated 
by  the  eye  and  the  ground  glass  is  brought  to  that  position  in 
which  the  yellow  rays  are  in  focus.  At  the  same  time,  the  red 
and  blue  rays  are  so  nearly  in  focus  that  they  unite  to  give  the  appear- 
ance of  white  light  in  focus  upon  the  screen.  When  the  sensitive 
plate  is  placed  in  the  camera,  occupying  the  position  of  the  ground 
glass,  and  the  light  is  permitted  to  fall  upon  it  through  the  lens, 


Fig.   15.     Spherical  Aberration  Reduced  by  Diaphragm  Stop 

the  conditions  of  appreciation  of  the  light  are  changed.  The  sensitive 
plate  is  most  sensitive  to  the  blue — the  violet  and  the  ultra-violet 
rays — and  these  are  not  in  focus  upon  its  surface. 

Outside  of  the  lens,  the  remedies  for  color  aberration  are  to 
focus  through  a  blue  glass,  to  use  a  blue  ground  glass,  or  to  wear 


21 


12 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


blue  spectacles.  Another  method  is  to  know  the  specific  correction 
for  the  lens  used  and  to  move  the  ground  glass  the  proper  distance 
toward  the  lens  after  focusing  upon  the  yellow  image. 


Fig.   16.     Chromatic  Aberration 

Within  the  lens,  "the  correction  may  be  made  by  uniting  two 
pieces  of  glass  of  different  refractive  powers,  one  lens  being  ground 
"positive,"  or  thicker  in  the  middle  than  in  the  edges,  and  the 
other  one  being  ground  "negative,"  or  thinner  in  the  middle  than 
in  the  edges.  Two  of  the  surfaces  have  the  same  curvature  and  the 
two  lenses  when  completed  are  cemented  together,  Fig.  17.  Even 
the  cheapest  classes  of  lenses  are  thus  made  double,  except  in  the 
smallest  sizes  and  when  of  short  focus.  A  rectilinear  lens,  composed 
of  two  single  lenses,  each  of  which  is  corrected  for  chromatic  aberra- 
tion, would  present  a  combination  of  glasses  such  as  is  shown  in 
section  in  Fig.  18  or  Fig.  19. 

Astigmatism.  The  meaning  of  this  word  is  with  no  point.  Its 
meaning  as  applied  to  a  photographic  lens  is  that  the  lens  has  not 
the  ability  to  bring  to  a  focus  at  a  point  all  of  the  rays  proceeding 
from  a  point  in  the  subject.  Thus  a  point  in  the  subject  becomes 
something  else  in  the  image.  The  bundle  of  rays  passing  from  a 
point  in  the  subject  and  through  the  stop  opening  takes  the  form 


Fig.  17.    Achromatic  Lens 


shown  in  Fig.  20.  The  best  focus  is  obtained  by  placing  the  ground 
glass  at  the  line  b,  where  the  point  takes  the  form  of  a  cross.  When 
the  ground  glass  is  at  the  line  a  nearer  the  lens,  the  point  takes  the 
form  of  a  short  radial  line,  or  ellipse,  with  its  longer  axis  radial  from 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


13 


the  center  of  the  image;  when  the  ground  glass  is  at  the  line  c  farther 
from  the  lens,  the  point  takes  the  form  of  a  short  arc  about  the  center 


Fig.  18. 


Fig.  19. 


Achromatic  Rectilinear  Lenses 


of  the  image,  or  of  an  approximate  ellipse  of  which  the  shorter  axis 
is  radial  and  the  longer  axis  is  an  arc  instead  of  a  straight  line. 

The  remedy  for  astigmatism  lies  in   the  construction   of  the 
lens,   and   lenses  which  are  corrected   for  astigmatism  are  called 


!c     \b 
Fig.  20.     Bundle  of  Rays  with  Astigmatism 

anastigmats.  Two,  three,  four,  and  even  five  pieces  of  glass  are 
used  sometimes  in  producing  single  lenses  free  from  astigmatism, 
chromatism,  and  spherical  aberration.  Fig.  21  shows  a  single  lens 


Fig.  21. 


Fig.  22. 
Anastigmatic  Lens  Combinations 


of  four  glasses.     Fig.  22  shows  the  glasses  of  a  aouble,  or  rectilinear, 
lens  of  two  single  lenses  having  eight  glasses  in  all. 

The  art  of  the  lens  maker  is  a  delicate  one.    A  lens  should  be 
bought  and   used   by   the   photographer,   and   not   tampered   with. 


23 


14  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

A  good  lens  should  be  kept  in  a  dust-proof  case  when  not  in  use. 
It  may  be  brushed  with  a  soft  camel's-hair  brush  and  wiped  with  soft 
clean  tissue  paper  to  remove  dust— not  a  cotton  or  silk  rag,  which 
may  carry  grains  of  grit  to  scratch  the  surface  of  the  glass. 

Shutters.  When  the  camera  is  prepared  for  exposing  a  plate 
to  an  image,  the  lens  stands  as  a  window  in  the  front  of  the  camera. 
The  purpose  of  the  shutter  is  to  close  the  lens  window  until  the 
moment  for  exposure,  then  to  open  the  lens  and  again  to  close  it 
after  sufficient  amount  of  light  has  passed  through  to  impress  the 
image  upon  the  sensitive  plate. 

Cap.  The  simplest  of  shutters  is  the  cap,  which  is  a  shallow 
box  fitting  closely  over  the  front  of  the  lens  barrel.  For  exposures 
of  several  seconds  or  more  in  duration,  the  cap  offers  the  most  con- 
venient means,  while  for  exposures  of  less  than  one-half  second,  the 
cap  can  hardly  be  removed  and  replaced  quickly  enough,  and  some 
sort  of  automatic  opening  and  closing  device  should  be  used. 

Leaf.  The  leaf  shutter  consists  of  hinged  leaves  which  meet 
and  overlap  to  close  the  lens  opening.  They  are  forced  open  by  a 
spring  and  forced  closed  by  a  spring.  An  exposure  of  as  brief  a 
space  as  T ^¥  second  is  feasible  with  the  leaf  shutter;  and  some  shut- 
ters are  advertised  to  make  even  shorter  exposures.  By  the  addition 
of  an  air  piston,  the  closing  of  the  shutter  may  be  delayed  until  after 
the  piston  has  completed  a  predetermined  travel,  thus  giving  an 
exposure  longer  than  the  shortest  of  which  the  shutter  is  capable. 
The  usual  "automatic"  leaf  shutter  may  be  "set"  before  exposure 
to  give  an  exposure  of  from  one  second  to  y^  ¥  second.  The  shutter 
may  be  adjusted  also  to  hold  the  lens  open  until  released.  Exposures 
longer  than  one  second  may  be  made  by  the  "time"  adjustment, 
opening  the  shutter  at  the  beginning  of  exposure  and  closing  it  after 
the  proper  lapse  of  time,  as  in  the  case  of  exposure  with  the  cap. 
The  leaf  shutters  usually  work  between  the  lenses,  near  the  diaphragm. 

Curtain.  The  curtain  shutter  consists  of  two  curtains  on  spring 
rollers  inside  the  camera  just  behind  the  lens.  When  the  shutter 
is  adjusted  for  exposure,  one  of  the  curtains  is  in  front  of  the  lens; 
the  other  is  above,  rolled  up.  Upon  release  of  the  shutter,  the  lower 
curtain  rolls  down,  opening  the  lens;  after  the  desired  lapse  of  time, 
the  upper  curtain  unrolls  and  passes  down,  stopping  over  the  lens 
and  closing  it. 


PHOTOGRAPHY  15 

Focal  Plane.  The  focal  plane  of  the  camera  is  the  position 
of  the  image  formed  by  the  lens.  When  ready  for  an  exposure,  the 
sensitive  plate  is  located  in  the  focal  plane.  The  focal-plane  shutter, 
which  is  a  curtain  just  in  front  of  the  plate,  is  so  called  because  it  is 
placed  as  near  to  the  plate  as  possible  and,  therefore,  near  the  focal 
plane  of  the  camera.  The  curtain  has  a  slit  which  may  be  adjusted 
in  width  or  it  has  several  slits  of  different  widths.  When  released 
the  curtain  rolls  without  stopping,  and  the  length  of  time  during 
which  the  light  is  permitted  to  shine  upon  the  plate  is  determined 
by  the  speed  of  the  curtain  and  by  the  width  of  the  slot.  With  a 
shutter  of  this  type,  exposures  as  short  as  -nj-Vir  second  may  be  given. 
The  shutter  is  available  equally  for  longer  automatic  exposures  and 
for  time  exposures. 

Testing.  An  automatic  shutter  has  a  scale  for  setting  the  speed 
of  the  shutter,  usually  marked  1,  2,  5,  25,  100,  meaning,  respectively, 
1  second,  i  second,  ^  second,  -^  second,  and  y^  second.  The  ex- 
posure given  to  the  plate  is  not  always  true,  however,  to  the  value 
indicated  by  the  scale  of  the  shutter.  The  method  of  test  is: 

Photograph  with  the  automatic  shutter  at  one  of  its  settings  an 
object  moving  at  a  known  speed;  then  calculate  the  length  of  time 
of  the  exposure  from  a  measurement  of  the  amount  of  movement  visible 
in  the  photograph.  The  distance  moved  in  the  photograph  is  to  the 
distance  moved  by  the  object  during  the  exposure  as  the  focal  length 
of  the  lens  is  to  the  distance  of  the  lens  from  the  object.  When  the 
distance  moved  by  the  object  and  the  speed  of  the  object  is  known,  the 
time  required  to  move  through  that  distance  may  be  known,  and  that 
is  the  actual  exposure  of  the  shutter  for  the  speed  setting  under  which 
the  test  was  made. 

.  A  wheel  driven  at  a  constant  and  known  speed  may  carry  a 
mirror  on  its  face  near  its  edge,  the  mirror  reflecting  the  light  of  the 
sun  or  of  an  arc  lamp  into  the  lens.  In  this  case,  the  distance  and 
focal  length  need  not  be  measured;  the  angle  of  the  arc  which  the 
revolving  mirror  makes  upon  the  plate  while  the  shutter  is  open  will 
give  the  duration  of  the  exposure  for  the  shutter  setting  under  which 
the  test  was  made. 

Under  test,  a  new  fabulously  high-priced  leaf  shutter  showed 
an  accuracy  of  only  60  per  cent.  Another  cheap  leaf  shutter  gave 
exactly  the  same  length  of  exposure  for  its  ^  marking  and  for  its 


16  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

r^  marking,  the  exposure  being  ^5-  second  for  either  of  them.  A 
fair  shutter  test  easily  made  is  as  follows: 

With  stop  f/ 11  and  shutter  speed  -%•%  expose  a  plate,  and  with  stop 
f/64  and  cap,  time,  or  bulb  exposure,  give  1  and  lj  seconds  as  accurately 
as  possible.  These  exposures  are  nearly  equal,  and  when  developed 
in  the  same  tray  or  tank  the  plates  should  be  alike. 

The  speed  markings  of  a  new  shutter  may  be  accepted  as  cor- 
rect; the  medium  speeds  ^  and  -%j,  which  are  used  most  by  the  ama- 
teur, are  likely  to  be  nearly  accurate.  The  shorter  exposures  are 
likely  to  be  too  long;  the  longer  ones  are  likely  to  be  too  short.  An 
old  or  second-hand  shutter  should  be  tested  for  speed  before  good 
work  is  attempted  with  it. 

Plate=Holder.  For  experimental  work  for  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing a  knowledge  of  photography  sufficient  for  the  making  of  motion 
pictures  or  good  still  pictures,  glass  dry  plates  should  be  used.  Cut 
films  or  roll  films  may  be  adopted  later,  but  the  more  reliable  glass 
dry  plate  should  be  used  by  the  beginner. 

The  plate-holder  has  two  draw  slides,  and  when  each  is  drawn 
there  is  revealed  a  set  of  clamps  for  holding  a  glass  plate  inside  the 
holder.  The  handle,  or  edge,  of  each  slide  is  white  on  one  side  and 
black  on  the  other.  In  the  dark  room,  by  dim  ruby  light,  place  a 
glass  plate  in  each  side,  with  the  film,  or  dull,  side  facing  out,  and 
replace  the  slides,  white  side  out.  The  plate-holders  should  be 
numbered  on  each  side,  the  first  holder  being  1  on  one  side  and  2 
on  the  other;  the  second  holder  being  3  on  one  side  and  4  °n  the 
other,  etc.  When  exposing  plates,  always  expose  first  the  No.  1 
side  of  the  first  holder,  or  the  No.  1  plate,  then  the  No.  2  plate,  then 
No.  3,  etc.  Upon  returning  to  the  dark  room  for  development, 
the  subjects  upon  each  plate  will  be  remembered  by  remembering 
the  order  of  the  exposures,  and  it  is  likely  that  only  one  exposure 
will  have  been  made  upon  each  plate.  Without  some  system  for 
exposing  plates  in  order,  it  is  possible  that  upon  development  one 
plate  will  show  a  ship  sailing  through  a  forest,  and  another  plate 
will  show  nothing  but  the  fog  of  an  imperfect  ruby  lamp. 

The  camera  is  so  arranged  that  the  ground  glass  may  be  removed 
and  the  plate  in  its  holder  substituted.  The  removal  of  the  ground 
glass  may  be  by  actually  taking  away  the  frame  which  holds  it, 
but  the  more  common  method  in  small  cameras  is  to  force  the  plate- 


65  J3 

i  s 


o  5 


O^o 
te.S^ 


PHOTOGRAPHY  17 

holder  into  the  camera  in  front  of  the  ground-glass  frame,  the  ground- 
glass  frame  being  held  by  springs  which  yield  to  permit  the  plate- 
holder  to  enter.  When  the  plate-holder  is  removed  subsequently, 
the  ground-glass  frame  automatically  resumes  its  proper  position  for 
focusing. 

Darkroom.  The  darkroom  is  a  room  which  is  not  merely  dusky, 
but  a  room  which  has  absolutely  no  white  light.  It  may  have  red 
light  until  it  is  far  from  dark,  hence  "darkroom"  is  but  a  name. 
It  must  not  have  any  light  which  will  affect  the  sensitive  plate.  No 
daylight.  Window's,  doors,  and  transoms  must  be  examined  for 
cracks.  After  remaining  in  a  darkroom  for  a  few  minutes,  cracks 
will  be  seen  which  were  not  noticed  at  first.  A  bathroom  at  night 
makes  a  desirable  darkroom  for  photographic  operations.  A  mov- 
able platform  across  the  tub  offers  a  work  table,  and  running  water 
is  convenient.  A  ruby  lamp  must  be  purchased.  If  a  satisfactory 
screen  is  made  for  the  window,  such  a  dark  room  may  be  used  during 
the  day.  No  white  light  must  get  to  the  plate  except  through  the 
lens  during  the  interval  of  exposure.  A  little  practice  enables  the 
photographer  to  load  his  plate-holders  by  touch  alone,  no  light  being 
needed.  This  enables  plate-holders  to  be  loaded  in  daytime  in  any 
closet  by  a  little  care  in  closing  the  cracks  around  the  door. 

A  convenient  darkroom  may  be  built  of  rough  boards  in  any 
corner  of  any  room,  basement,  attic,  or  barn,  the  cracks  being  care- 
fully closed  by  papering  inside  and  outside.  A  developing  shelf 
should  be  the  height  of  the  waist.  If  running  water  is  desired  in  the 
darkroom,  a  sink  should  be  convenient  to  the  developing  shelf,  but 
running  water  in  any  but  a  very  large  darkroom  is  an  objection 
rather  than  an  advantage.  In  the  wall  back  of  the  developing  shelf 
a  window  should  be  cut  into  which  a  sash  is  fitted  carrying  a  ruby 
glass.  Outside  of  the  darkroom,  on  a  shelf  or  bracket,  should  be 
the  lamp  for  furnishing  the  ruby  light,  so  placed  as  to  shine  through 
the  window.  Shelves  for  chemicals,  apparatus,  and  supplies  are 
outside  the  darkroom.  The  darkroom  contains  nothing  but  a  de- 
veloping shelf,  a  door,  and  a  window  provided  with  removable  colored 
glass.  Dishwashing,  and  other  processes  not  necessarily  darkroom 
processes,  may  be  done  elsewhere. 

Routine  of  Camera  Operation.  Select  the  view.  Open  lens. 
Open  stop.  Focus  and  manipulate  the  camera  until  you  have  upon 


27 


18  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

the  ground  glass  the  image  you  want,  no  more,  no  less.  Decide  upon 
the  stop  opening  to  be  used  and  the  length  of  exposure  to  be  given. 
Set  stop  opening.  Close  lens.  Adjust  shutter  to  selected  speed 
setting.  Insert  plate-holder.  Draw  dark  slide  of  plate-holder.  Re- 
lease automatic  shutter  or  otherwise  make  the  exposure.  Replace 
dark  slide  in  plate-holder,  black  out.  Remove  plate-holder  from 
camera. 

Practice  this  routine  without  plates  in  the  holders,  or  without 
drawing  the  dark  slide  from  the  plate-holder,  until  entirely  familiar 
with  all  of  the  steps.  Many  plates  are  spoiled  by  drawing  the  dark 
slide  before  closing  the  lens,  or  by  failure  to  draw  the  dark  slide  at  all. 

PRODUCING  THE  IMAGE 

The  picture  is  made  upon  the  ground  glass  of  the  camera.  If 
the  photographer  has  the  patience  and  skill,  or  the  good  luck  as  an 
amateur,  to  secure  such  an  arrangement  of  his  subject  upon  the 
ground  glass  as  makes  a  good  picture  there,  then  the  mechanical 
and  chemical  processes  which  follow  will  merely  record  that  picture 
and  will  produce  a  pleasing  photograph  unless  the  record  should  be 
spoiled  by  accident.  The  view  selected  to  be  photographed  often 
is  forced  upon  the  photographer.  He  must  produce  a  picture  of 
this  house,  or  that  bridge,  or  of  the  children  of  the  family.  The 
motion-picture  camera  man  must  photograph  the  set  stage  or  such 
other  subject  as  the  producer  in  charge  may  direct.  Yet  the  control 
of  the  image  in  nearly  every  instance  is  so  completely  in  the  hands 
of  the  camera  operator  that  the  resulting  picture  is  better  or  worse 
as  he  is  careful  or  careless,  and  according  as  he  understands  the 
possibilities  of  his  camera  to  control  the  arrangement  of  the  details 
of  his  subject.  All  of  this  control  of  the  resulting  picture,  after  the 
voluntary  or  enforced  selection  of  the  principal  subject,  must  be 
exercised  before  the  exposure  of  the  sensitive  plate  or  film  is  made 
by  the  operation  of  the  lens  shutter.  After  the  lens  has  been  opened 
upon  the  subject,  transmitting  the  light  of  the  image  to  the  sensitive 
plate,  no  further  change  can  be  made  in  the  picture. 

The  making  of  the  picture,  that  is,  the  making  upon  the  ground 
glass  the  image  which  is  to  be  recorded  to  become  the  finished  photo- 
graph, may  be  divided  into  seven  points  for  consideration  und  study, 
as  follows: 


28 


PHOTOGRAPHY  19 

(1)  The  selection  of  the  principal  object  to  be  photographed. 

(2)  The  selection  of  a  background  or  setting  for  the  principal 
object. 

(3)  The  lighting  or  direction  of  light  falling  upon  the  subject 
as  a  whole. 

(4)  The  size  of  the  principal  object  in  the  image. 

(5)  The  composition  and  balancing  of  principal  and  subordi- 
nate objects  in  the  image. 

(6)  The  prominence  of  the  background. 

(7)  The  avoidance  of  disagreeable  distortions  in  the  image. 
Principal  Object.     The  total  task  of  photographing   usually  is 

the  making  of  a  photograph  which  may  be  used  to  record  some  one 
object,  such  as  a  house,  a  tree,  a  flower,  a  person,  or  an  animal. 
Sometimes  it  is  merely  "a  pretty  scene,"  but  in  this  case  the  pho- 
tographer should  decide  upon  some  object  of  the  scene  to  form  the 
principal  object  of  the  picture.  He  should  give  such  prominence  to 
some  object  that  the  resulting  photograph  will  be  in  substance  a  pic- 
ture of  that  principal  object,  yet  will  embody  in  its  background  or 
scenic  setting  the  "pretty  scene"  which  it  was  desired  to  photograph. 
Right  at  the  beginning,  and  in  the  most  fundamental  of  all  of  the 
principles  of  picture  making,  the  camera  operator  has  the  power 
to  control  the  image,  to  make  or  spoil  the  picture,  even  though  com- 
manded by  an  outside  influence  as  to  his  general  subject.  Whether 
he  is  inspired  by  the  beauty  of  a  scene  to  make  a  photograph  of  it, 
or  whether  he  is  commanded  by  a  companion  or  by  an  employer  to 
make  a  photograph  of  it,  he  still  has  the  power  to  make  some  object 
a  principal  object,  to  hold  other  objects  subordinate  to  it,  and  to 
mold  the  whole  into  an  arrangement  in  the  image  on  his  ground  glass 
which  will  result  in  a  photograph  worthy  the  name  of  a  picture  when 
finished.  Each  picture  must  have  a  principal  object  or  it  is  at  best 
only  a  photographic  memorandum. 

Background.  In  portrait  work  in  a  studio,  the  backgrounds 
are  painted  as  desired,  and  brought  in  or  carried  out,  and  turned 
and  placed  as  needed.  And  for  scenic  work  it  is  almost  the  same. 
Suppose  that  it  is  commanded  that  a  photograph  be  made  of  a  rose- 
bush in  blossom  in  the  front  yard  of  a  house.  If  the  house  would 
form  a  desirable  background,  set  up  the  camera  at  the  front  fence. 
If  the  front  fence  would  form  a  desirable  background,  photograph 


20  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

the  rosebush  from  the  house.  If  either  side  fence  is  better,  place  the 
camera  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  yard.  If  none  of  the  surround- 
ings are  pleasing  as  background  objects,  there  is  still  the  possibility 
of  viewing  the  bush  from  above  so  that  the  grass  of  the  lawn,  and 
not  any  fence,  house,  or  other  object  is  included  as  a  background. 
This  view  may  be  had  from  the  top  of  a  stepladder,  from  an  upper 
window  of  the  house,  or  even  from  the  height  of  the  tripod  above  a 
porch  floor.  With  some  of  these  background  arrangements  surely 
the  resulting  picture  will  be  better  than  with  others.  Get  the  best  one, 
just  to  show  that  you  are  master  of  the  camera,  even  though  some  one 
else  dictates  what  your  principal  object  shall  be. 

When  photographing  persons  or  animals,  the  "principal  object" 
usually  may  be  brought  to  a  suitable  background.  When  photo- 
graphing a  house,  the  inclusion  in  the  image  upon  the  ground  glass 
of  a  little  more  of  the  foreground,  or  of  a  little  of  one  of  the  houses 
standing  at  one  side  of  the  "principal  object,"  or  of  a  tree  standing 
near,  partakes  of  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  selection  of  a  back- 
ground and  gives  the  camera  operator  some  power  to  make  his 
image  nearer  to  a  picture  and  farther  from  the  memorandum  type 
of  photograph. 

Lighting.  With  immovable  objects,  such  as  trees,  houses,  and 
rosebushes,  illuminated  by  the  sun,  the  photographer  has  two  methods 
of  controlling  his  lighting,  both  of  which  consist  merely  in  taking 
advantage  of  natural  conditions  by  the  selection  of  the  proper  time 
for  making  the  exposure.  The  sunlight  falls  upon  the  object  at  dif- 
ferent angles  and  in  different  directions  at  different  hours  of  the  day. 
Whether  the  object  is  photographed  in-  the  early  morning,  in  the 
late  morning,  at  noon,  or  in  the  afternoon  is  usually  within  the  con- 
trol of  the  photographer,  and  it  makes  a  difference  in  the  pictorial 
value  of  the  photograph.  Few  landscapes  are  pretty  at  noon,  with 
the  shadow  exactly  under  each  tree  and  bush;  they  are  far  better 
between  two  o'clock  and  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  horizontal 
rays  of  sunlight  become  objectionable  again  in  the  late  afternoon. 
The  second  method  of  control  for  immovable  objects  is  the  selec- 
tion of  an  overcast  or  hazy  day  in  preference  to  a  day  of  direct  sun- 
light. Usually  the  direct  sunlight,  with  sharp  shadows  is  preferable, 
but  here  again  the  operator  has  control  of  the  image  in  his  hands. 

Size  of  Object.    The  size  of  the  principal  object  is  controlled  by 


30 


PHOTOGRAPHY  21 

the  distance  from  the  camera  to  the  object  and  by  the  focal  length 
of  the  lens.  The  nearer  the  camera  is  carried  to  the  object  to  be  pho- 
tographed, the  larger  will  be  the  image  of  that  object  upon  the  ground 
glass.  The  longer  the  focal  length  of  the  lens  used,  the  larger  will 
be  the  image  upon  the  ground  glass.  The  image  of  the  main  object, 
therefore,  may  be  enlarged  by  using  one  of  the  lenses  alone  instead 
of  both  of  them  double. 

Composition  and  Balance.  By  the  terms  composition  and  balance 
reference  is  made  to  the  many  relations  which  exist  among  the  masses 
of  light  and  shade  among  the  lines  of  the  image.  The  rules  are 
so  numerous  that  all  of  them  cannot  be  followed  at  all  times,  and 
many  of  them  apply  only  to  specific  instances  of  subject  arrange- 
ment. A  few  of  the  more  general  rules  may  be  kept  in  mind  when 
arranging  the  image  upon  the  ground  glass. 

A  profile  portrait  shows  on  one  side  the  light  face  against  the 
darker  portion  of  the  background,  and  on  the  other  side  the  dark 
hair  against  the  lighter  portion  of  the  background.  Each  side  of 
the  picture  has  its  lights  and  its  shadows.  A  landscape,  even  the 
picture  of  a  building,  should  bear  the  same  analysis.  A  balanced 
picture  should  have  a  principal  shadow,  and  some  minor  shadows. 
It  should  have  a  principal  high  light  and  some  minor  high  lights. 
With  the  principal  shadow  and  the  minor  high  lights  on  one  side  of 
the  image  and  the  principal  high  light  and  minor  shadows  on  the 
other  side,  it  is  likely  that  an  approximate  balance  will  be  obtained. 
For  example:  a  heavy  mass  of  foliage  is  at  the  lower  right,  as  a  near 
bush  or  tree;  a  few  scattered  masses  are  at  the  middle  left  and  upper 
left,  as  distant  bushes  or  trees;  a  roadway  or  stream  runs  from  lower 
left  to  upper  right,  showing  a  large  light  spot  at  lower  left  and  smaller 
light  spots  at  upper  right;  the  large  light  is  a  little  higher  or  a  little 
lower  than  the  large  shadow,  not  dead  level  that  a  line  connecting 
them  would  be  parallel  to  the  margin.  That  sounds  like  a  coldly 
critical  analysis  suitable  for  producing  a  stiff  and  formal  picture,  yet 
a  scene  sought  out  in  nature  and  photographed  from  a  viewpoint  care- 
fully selected  to  secure  this  arrangement  of  lights  and  shadows  will 
rank  above  a  hand-camera  snapshot  and  will  repay  the  amateur's  effort. 

In  a  water  scene,  a  ship  at  anchor  may  be  photographed  from 
the  pier  with  another  pier  in  the  background.  Place  the  dark  hull 
of  the  ship  near  the  lower  edge  of  the  picture  and  at  the  right  of  the 


31 


22  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

middle  line;  place  the  distant  pier  above  the  center  on  the  left  of  the 
picture.  The  masts  of  the  ship  cut  up  into  the  upper  right  corner 
and  break  up  the  sea  and  sky  into  minor  high  lights.  The  major 
high  light  is  the  unbroken  sea  at  the  left  of  the  ship,  lower  left  corner 
of  the  picture. 

Strictly  parallel  lines  are  objectionable  in  a  picture  unless  they 
are  parts  of  an  object  and  unavoidable,  as  the  masts  of  a  ship.  Any 
line  parallel  to  the  margin  of  the  plate  is  objectionable  except  the 
side  lines  of  buildings,  which  are  unavoidable.  An  imaginary  line 
joining  two  high  lights  or  two  shadows  should  not  be  parallel  to 
an  edge  of  the  plate,  nor  should  an  imaginary  line  from  the  principal 
shadow  mass  to  the  principal  high  light  be  parallel  to  any  edge  of  the 
plate  if  it  can  be  avoided.  The  horizon  line  requires  care  in  this  detail. 

Horizon  Line.  The  placing  of  the  horizon  line  has  much  in- 
fluence in  the  composition  and  balance  of  the  picture.  Care  must 
be  taken  that  the  horizon  line  does  not  cross  the  principal  object 
at  an  undesirable  point,  nor  should  the  apparent  horizon  divide 
the  picture  exactly  in  the  middle.  Where  a  hillside  is  included  in 
the  landscape,  it  may  be  made  to  give  an  inclined  or  irregular  line 
for  the  horizon.  Where  a  level  horizon  is  unavoidable,  it  should  be 
broken  if  possible  by  the  objects  of  the  picture. 

Point  of  View.  The  point  of  view  is  the  location  of  the  camera 
whence  the  image  is  made.  Changing  the  point  of  view  is  the  most 
powerful  means  which  the  camera  operator  has  for  arranging  and 
controlling  his  image.  The  selection  of  the  background  depends 
almost  solely  upon  the  point  of  view  chosen.  The  size  of  the  prin- 
cipal object  is  largely  controlled  by  the  choice  of  the  point  of  view, 
while  the  composition  and  balance  are  almost  wholly  controlled  by 
the  selection  of  the  point  of  view,  together  with  the  selection  of  the 
lens  length. 

Prominence  of  Background.  As  a  rule,  the  image  may  be 
separated  into  principal  object  and  background,  even  though  the 
background  or  setting  of  the  principal  object  be  really  the  more 
important  portion  of  the  picture,  and  the  portion  primarily  desired. 
The  relative  size  of  the  principal  object  and  its  associated  background 
objects  may  be  controlled  by  the  lens  length.  With  the  double 
lens,  focus  upon  a  view  containing  a  near  tree  as  a  principal  object. 
Note  the  size  of  the  distant  trees.  Remove  the  front  lens  cell,  move 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


23 


the  camera  back  to  twice  the  distance  from  the  principal  tree,  and 
focus  again.  By  the  change  of  the  lens  and  the  change  of  the  point 
of  view,  the  principal  tree  will  be  the  same  size  as  before;  note  that 
the  distant  trees  are  much  larger  than  before,  thus  giving  greater 
prominence  to  the  objects  of  the  background.  Also,  by  the  use 
of  the  longer  focus  of  the  single  lens,  less  of  the  horizon  is  included 
in  the  image,  and  less  of  the  surrounding  landscape  is  shown  as  a 
background  to  the  principal  tree,  that  which  is  included  in  the  image 
being  shown  in  larger  size.  If  the  front  and  back  cells  of  the  lens 


Fig.  23.    Perspective  Distortion 

are  different  in  length,  the  front  cell  alone  will  give  still  more  prom- 
inence to  the  background  objects,  a  greater  extension  of  bellows  and 
a  still  more  distant  viewpoint  being  required  to  keep  the  principal 
object  at  the  original  chosen  size.  When  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
a  point  of  view  near  enough  to  the  principal  object  to  secure  a  large 
image,  the  longest  lens  will  give  the  largest  possible  image. 

In  the  case  of  a  portrait,  the  background  is  entirely  unimportant 
in  detail,  and  is  most  satisfactory  when  shown  merely  as  a  blurred 
surface  of  light  and  shade.  This  is  effected  by  opening  the  diaphragm 
to  its  largest  stop  size,  then  bringing  theJace  of  the  portrait  to  a  sharp 


24  THF  MOTION  PICTURE 

ocus.  The  background  will  be  blurred  because  it  is  "out  of  focus." 
Out-of-door  portraiture  profits  by  the  same  rule,  and  the  rule  applies 
generally  where  the  picture  is  to  be  a  photograph  of  a  specific  object 
and  the  background  is  not  a  part  of  the  object.  Where  both  fore- 
ground and  background  are  required  to  be  sharp,  a  small  stop 
opening  must  be  used  to  secure  the  result. 

Distortions.  Usually,  any  distortion  of  the  image  caused  by 
the  lens  is  objectionable.  Blurring  the  background  in  portraiture 
and  similar  pictures  by  using  the  shallow  field  incidental  to  the  large 
stop  opening  is  in  itself  a  form  of  distortion  which  is  made  to  serve 
a  useful  purpose  and  is  an  aid  to  the  operator  in  the  control  of  his 
image. 

Barrel  distortion  and  pin-cushion  distortion,  which  have  already 
been  discussed,  should  be  avoided  as  far  as  possible,  particularly  in 
architectural  subjects. 

Perspective  distortion  will  be  observed  if  the  camera  does  not 
stand  level  upon  its  tripod.  In  landscape  views,  such  distortion 


Fig.  24.    Camera 'v?th  S  ving  Back  Fig.  25.    Camera  with  Rising  Front 

in  Use  in  Use 

usually  is  negligible.  In  architecture  it  is  ludicrous,  Fig.  23.  The 
remedy  is  to  keep  the  ground  glass  vertical,  or  nearly  so.  This  is 
done  by  the  swing  back  and  by  the  rising  front. 

Swing  Back.  When  the  back  of  the  camera,  carrying  the  ground 
glass  and  the  plate-holder,  is  pivoted  or  hinged,  the  body  of  the  camera 
may  be  tilted  to  bring  the  desired  scene  upon  the  ground  glass, 
and  the  swinging  back  of  the  camera  then  may  be  adjusted  to  bring 
the  ground  glass  vertical  or  nearly  so,  Fig.  24.  By  this  adjustment, 
the  perspective  distortion  will  be  corrected,  but  the  focus  is  more 


34 


PHOTOGRAPHY  25 

difficult  and  a  smaller  stop  opening  will  be  required  to  give  a  sharp 
focus  over  the  entire  plate. 

Rising  Front.  With  the  camera  placed  about  level,  more  of 
the  sky  or  more  of  the  foreground  may  be  included  upon  the  plate 
by  raising  or  lowering  the  lens  in  the  front  of  the  camera,  Fig.  25. 
This  avoids  perspective  distortion,  but  the  amount  of  adjustment 
thus  obtainable  is  somewhat  limited. 

RECORDING  THE  IMAGE 

The  recording  of  the  image  consists  of  two  processes — expos- 
ing the  sensitive  plate  and  developing  the  exposed  plate  into  a  negative. 

Dry  Plates.  The  art  of  the  chemist  is  brought  into  use  in  record- 
ing the  image  of  the  lens.  The  known  substance  most  sensitive  to 
light  is  finely  divided  nitrate  of  silver  suspended  in  gelatine.  The 
manufacture  of  this  substance  is  not  attempted  by  the  photographer. 
A  thin  skin  of  the  prepared  gelatine  is  spread  upon  glass  plates 
and  dried.  The  plates  thus  made  are  sold  under  the  name  of  photo- 
graphic dry  plates.  These  are  bought  by  the  photographer  in  light- 
proof  sealed  packages  and  loaded  into  plate-holders  in  the  darkroom. 

Films.  Flexible  transparent  celluloid  films  coated  with  the 
prepared  gelatine  are  used  instead  of  the  glass,  if  desired,  and  may 
be  had  for  pictures  up  to  a  5  by  7  size,  either  in  packets  of  cut  films 
or  in  rolls  of  proper  width  on  which  exposures  may  be  made  one  after 
another.  In  motion-picture  work,  the  celluloid  film  is  a  necessity 
and  it  is  used  universally  in  commercial  motography. 

Exposure.  When  the  plate-holder  is  inserted  in  the  camera, 
the  lens  closed,  and  the  dark  slide  withdrawn,  the  lens  is  opened 
just  long  enough  to  permit  a  sufficient  amount  of  light  to  pass  through 
the  lens  to  affect  the  sensitive  silver  of  the  dry  plate — neither  too 
much,  nor  too  little.  This  process  of  administering  to  the  plate 
the  proper  dose  of  light  in  the  form  of  the  image  is  called  exposing 
the  plalc. 

The  greatest  problem  in  photographing  any  subject  is  the  best 
arrangement  of  the  image  upon  the  ground  glass,  and  the  next 
greatest  is  the  determination  of  how  long  a  time,  in  seconds  or  frac- 
tions of  a  second,  to  permit  the  light  to  flow  through  the  lens  to 
impress  the  image  properly  upon  the  sensitive  plate. 

The  amount  of  light  from  a  given  subject  which  falls  upon 


35 


26  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

the  sensitive  plate  to  impress  the  image  depends  upon  the  size  of 
the  stop  opening  and  the  length  of  time  during  which  the  lens  is 
left  open  for  the  exposure.  Light  flowing  through  the  stop  opening 
is  just  like  water  flowing  through  a  hole.  If  you  increase  the  size 
of  the  hole,  the  bucket  will  be  filled  with  water  in  less  time,  and  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  change  of  the  size  of  the  hole.  Double-size 
hole,  half  the  time  to  fill  the  bucket.  Half-size  hole,  double  time  to  fill 
the  bucket.  A  hole  ten  times  the  size  will  fill  the  bucket  in  one-tenth 
the  time.  This  rule  holds  strictly  true  in  the  case  of  the  photographic 
exposure.  Increase  the  size  of  the  stop  opening  and  the  light  passes 
through  faster,  giving  the  plate  sufficient  light  in  a  shorter  time. 

A  larger  plate  requires  a  greater  quantity  of  light  because  there 
is  more  surface  to  be  worked  upon.  The  light  spreads  from  the 
lens,  and  the  farther  back  from  the  lens  the  light  must  go  to  reach 
the  plate,  the  more  it  spreads  out  and  the  weaker  it  becomes.  The 
lens  length  has  a  direct  influence  in  the  strength  of  light  upon  a  plate 
from  a  given  subject  through  a  given  opening  or,  to  state  the  same 
rule  differently,  the  lens  length  has  a  direct  influence  in  determining 
the  size  of  stop  opening  which  must  be  used  to  effect  the  same  strength 
of  light  upon  a  plate  from  a  given  subject. 

Stop  Numbers.  A  plan  of  numbering  stops  according  to  the 
size  of  the  opening  has  been  devised  which  removes  the  actual  focal 
length  of  the  lens  from  the  calculation  of  the  strength  of  the  light 
upon  the  plate,  by  including  the  focal  length  of  the  lens  in  the  deter- 
mination of  the  stop  number.  There  are  in  common  use  in  America 
two  systems  of  stop  numbers — the  focal-factor  system  and  a  modifi- 
cation called  the  uniform  system.  The  plan  used  in  the  focal  factor 
system  consists  of  numbering  the  stops  in  fractions,  as  1/8,  1/10, 
1/32  of  the  focal  length  of  the  lens;  these  are  written //8,  //16,  //32, 
etc.,  or  F/8,  F/W,  F/32,  etc.,  or  /-8,  /-16,  /-32,  etc.,  or  /:8,  /:!(>, 
/:32,  etc. 

The  stop  number  //16  means  that  the  diameter  of  the  stop 
opening  is  1/16  the  focal  length  of  the  lens.  An  //1G  stop  for  a 
4-inch  lens  is  1/4  inch  in  diameter.  An  //1 6  stop  for  an  8-inch  lens 
is  1/2  inch  in  diameter,  giving  four  times  the  area  of  the  stop  open- 
ing, giving  four  times  the  quantity  of  light,  but  since  the  light  goes 
twice  as  far  before  it  reaches  the  ground  glass  or  sensitive  plate  it 
will  spread  over  four  times  the  area  and,  therefore,  will  be  of  the 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


27 


same  strength,  or  intensity,  on  the  plate  with  the  1/2-inch  stop  //16 
of  the  8-inch  lens  as  with  the  1/4-inch  stop  //16  of  the  4-inch  lens. 
This  is  of  great  convenience  in  writing  of  exposure  timing,  because 
by  the  use  of  the  focal-factor  system  of  stops  all  the  rules  given  for 
exposure  will  be  true  for  cameras  of  all  sizes  and  for  lenses  of  all 
lengths  of  focus. 

In  both  systems  each  stop  number  requires  either  double  or 
half  the  exposure  of  the  next  stop  number,  the  stops  being  alike  at 
//16  and  No.  16.  If  the  stop  numbers  on  a  scale  are  4,  8,  16,  32,  64, 
128,  256,  it  is  "U.  S."  or  uniform  system.  If  the  stop  numbers  on 
a  scale  are  8,  11,  16,  22,  32,  45,  64,  it  is  focal-factor  system.  In 
either  case,  as  the  numbers  increase  each  number  requires  double 
the  time  of  exposure  required  for  the  preceding  or  next  smaller 
number.  In  any  lens,  the  largest  opening  possible  may  not  be  an 
even  stop  number,  and  this  first  marking  of  the  scale  may  vary  from 
the  "double  time"  rule.  Thus,  if  a  lens  will  work  with  an  opening 
of  //7,  its  scale  will  be  marked  7,  8,  11,  16,  etc.,  if  for  the  focal- 
factor  system;  or  3,  4,  8,  16,  etc.,  if  for  the  "U.  S."  system.  In  Table 
I  the  numbers  in  the  two  systems  are  compared. 

TABLE  I 
Equivalent  Stop  Numbers  in  Focal-Factor  and  Uniform  Systems 


f/2 

f/3.5 

f/4 

f/4.5 

f/5 

f/5.6 

f/6.3 

f/7 

No.  i 

No.| 

No.  1 

No.  It 

No.  H 

No.  2 

No.  1\ 

No.  3 

*f/8 

*f/ll 

*f/16 

*f/22 

*f/32 

*f/45 

f/64 

f/90 

No.  4 

No.  8 

No.  16 

No.  32 

No.  64 

No.  128 

No.  256 

No.  512 

*The  stop  numbers  in  the  two  systems  which  are  most  commonly  met  and  used. 

Plate  Speed.  Some  plates  are  coated  with  a  gelatine  film  which 
is  more  sensitive  to  light  than  others.  As  a  standard,  plates  such  as 
Seeds  26x,  Stanley,  Hammer  Fast,  Cramer  Instantaneous  Iso,  and 
Standard  Extra  may  be  taken  as  most  suitable  in  speed  for  amateur 
work.  These  plates  list  130  on  the  Watkins  scale  of  plate  speeds. 
A  faster  class  of  plates  comprises  Cramer  Crown,  Hammer  Extra 
Fast,  Seed  27,  and  Kodak  and  Premo  Films.  These  list  at  180  on 
the  Watkins  scale  and  require  only  three-quarters  the  exposure  to 
impress  the  image  as  fully  as  upon  a  plate  of  the  130  class. 


37 


28  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Light  Intensity.  In  filling  a  bucket  with  water  running  through 
an  opening,  the  pressure  which  is  behind  the  water  will  influence 
the  rate  of  flow  and  will  influence  the  time  required  to  fill  the  bucket. 
The  intensity  of  the  light  which  illuminates  the  subject  and  the 
nature  of  the  subject  itself  are  the  two  elements  which  influence  the 
rate  of  flow  of  light  through  the  lens  opening.  On  a  dark  day  the 
light  does  not  pour  through  the  small  stop  opening  as  fast  as  on  a 
day  of  blinding  sunlight.  Even  in  the  same  bright  sunlight,  the 
quantity  of  light  sent  to  the  camera  from  a  dark  green  tree  is  less 
than  the  quantity  sent  from  the  white  sails  of  a  ship.  One  considera- 
tion of  the  nature  of  the  subject  also  is  its  distance  from  the  camera. 

If  the  average  amateur  photographer  were  asked  the  exposure 
for  a  summer  landscape,  he  would  probably  say,  carelessly,  //1 6 
and  1/25  of  a  second.  That  is  the  hand-camera  way  and  gives  but 
twenty  good  negatives  out  of  a  thousand  exposures. 

The  intensity  of  light  depends  upon  the  height  of  the  sun  above 
the  horizon,  which  varies  with  every  day  of  the  year  and  with  every 
hour  of  the  day.  With  a  clear  sky  and  an  average  subject,  Table 
II  gives  in  seconds  the  proper  exposure  (Watkins  130  list  plate) 
for  //1 6  stop  for  each  hour  of  the  year,  by  months,  for  the  latitude 
of  the  northern  portion  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  southern  portion  of  the  United  States,  three-quarters 
of  this  exposure  is  sufficient;  and  on  the  equator,  probably  one- 
half  is  sufficient,  and  the  May- June-July  column  may  be  used  all 
the  year  around,  with  the  5  A.  M.  and  7  P.  M.  figures  omitted. 

For  a  hazy  day — good  daylight  but  cloudy  enough  to  obscure 
the  sun — give  double  the  exposure  as  a  correction  for  the  clouds. 
On  a  heavily  overcast,  gloomy  day,  give  four  times  the  exposure  as 
a  correction  for  clouds. 

Nature  of  Subject  The  nature  of  the  subject  to  be  photographed 
has  an  influence  even  greater  than  the  time  of  day  or  condition  of 
the  clouds.  For  pictures  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  a  glance  at  the 
table  shows  that  the  midwinter  exposure  with  sun  is  but  little  more 
than  double  the  midsummer  exposure  with  sun.  The  exposure  for 
cloudy  days  is  only  twice  or  four  times  that  for  sunny  days.  But 
the  correction  for  the  nature  of  the  subject  even  with  outdoor  subjects 
may  be  two  hundred  times  as  much  for  one  subject  as  for  another. 

The  following  corrections  may  be  applied  to  Table  II  to  com- 


38 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


29 


TABLE  II 
Day  and  Hour  Exposure  Chart 


A.    M. 
P.    M. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 
June 
July 

Aug. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

5  A.M. 

1 

6  A.M. 

1 

1/2 

1/5 

1/2 

1 

7  A.M. 

2 

1/2 

1/5 

1/10 

1/10 

1/10 

1/5 

1/2 

2 

2 

8  A.M. 

1/2 

1/5 

1/10 

1/10 

1/10 

1/10 

1/10 

1/5 

1/2 

1/2 

9  A.M. 

1/5 

1/10 

1/10 

1/15 

1/15 

1/15 

1/10 

1/10 

1/5 

1/5 

10  A.M. 

to 

2  P.M. 

1/10 

1/15 

1/15 

1/25 

1/25 

1/25 

1/15 

1/15 

1/10 

1/10 

3  P.M. 

1/5 

1/10 

1/10 

1/15 

1/25 

1/25 

1/15 

1/10 

1/5 

1/5 

4   P.M. 

1/2 

1/5 

1/10 

1/10 

1/15 

1/15 

1/10 

1/5 

1/2 

1/2 

5   P.M. 

2 

1/2 

1/5 

1/10 

1/10 

1/10 

1/5 

1/2 

2 

2 

6  P.M. 

1 

1/2 

1/5 

1/2 

1 

7   P.M. 

1 

pensate  for  the  difference  in  the  character  of  the  subject  of  different 
images. 

1/20  exposure  for  sky  and  clouds,  where  the  foreground  objects  do  not 
form  a  part  of  the  picture. 

1/10  exposure  for  sea  and  sky,  ships  at  a  distance  at  sea,  views  at  a 
distance  across  the  water. 

1/4  exposure  for  open  views,  where  the  important  portion  of  the  view 
is  in  the  distance  and  the  foreground  is  unimportant. 

1/2  exposure  for  very  light  objects  of  importance  in  the  foreground. 

Exposure  time  given  in  the  table  is  suitable  when  the  important  objects 
of  the  image  are  20  to  100  feet  from  the  camera  and  are  neither  white  nor 
black,  neither  very  light  nor  very  dark. 

Twice  the  exposure  time  given  in  the  table  for  objects  nearer  than  20 
feet,  or  for  dark  objects  of  importance  in  the  foreground  of  the  image. 

Four  times  the  exposure  time  for  portraits  in  shade  of  heavy  foliage, 
and  for  dark  objects  nearer  than  20  feet. 

Sixteen  times  the  exposure  time  for  pictures  in  dense  woods  where  side 
light  as  well  as  top  light  is  obstructed  by  the  foliage  of  the  trees-. 

Near  sunset,  five  times  the  exposure  in  order  to  compensate  for  the 
yellow  color  of  the  sunset  light. 

Interiors,  if  very  well  lighted  by  windows  and  with  light  walls,  100  times 
the  table  values. 

Interiors,  if  not  well  lighted,  500  to  5,000  times. 

When  the  sun  is  in  front  of  the  camera  so  that  the  shady  side  of  the 
subject  is  being  photographed,  the  exposure  should  be  doubled. 


39 


30 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Calculation  of  Exposure  by  Table.  To  calculate  an  exposure 
requires  that  the  proper  //16  time  for  average  plate  and  subject  be 
taken  from  Table  II.  If  the  subject  is  an  average  one  and  the  sum- 
mer day  is  bright,  then  there  is  no  correction  to  be  applied,  the  stop 
is  set  to  //1 6,  and  the  figure  taken  from  the  table  is  set  upon  the 
automatic  shutter  and  the  exposure  is  made.  A  few  exceptions  may 
be  studied. 

The  summer  hotel  presents  from  across  the  valley  a  view  which 
the  visitor  wishes  to  take  with  him.  At  one  point  in  the  road  a  group 
of  trees  between  the  road  and  the  hotel  obscures  the  hotel,  but  by 
taking  a  viewpoint  farther  along  the  hotel  is  free  from  the  ob- 
struction and  the  group  of  trees  at  one  side  of  the  middle  of  the 
image  balances  the  hotel  at  the  other 
side.  The  trees  being  nearer  and  larger 
are  the  "main  object"  of  the  com- 
position, but  the  building  is  the  more 
important.  It  is  painted  white.  Trees 
behind  it  show  its  outline  definitely, 
and  both  the  trees  behind  and  the 
"main  object"  group  of  nearer  trees 
break  the  horizon  line.  The  horizon 
line  is  placed  high — three-fifths  from 
the  bottom  and  two-fifths  from  the  top 
line  of  the  picture.  If  possible,  the  cam- 
era is  so  positioned  by  its  selection  of 
viewpoint  that  some  small  object  breaks 
the  foreground  on  the  side  opposite  the 
"main  object"  group  of  trees.  The  ex- 
posure is:  Summer,  2  P.  M.,  by  Table  II,  1/25  second;  important 
portion  of  the  view  is  in  the  distance  and  foreground  unimportant, 
correction  1/4;  the  exposure  should  be  1/100  second  at  //1G,  but 
better  1/25  second  at  jf/32  to  increase  the  sharpness  of  the  distant 
object.  In  a  light  subject,  give  less  rather  than  more  time  than  given 
in  the  table. 

Further  along,  the  visitor  passes  through  a  wood  and  notes  a 
clump  of  pretty  ferns.  The  table  says  1/25  second;  correction  for 
deep  wood,  16;  correction  for  dark  color  (green)  of  ferns,  and  near 
the  camera,  to  have  the  image  of  the  ferns  large,  4.  Time  64/25  or 


Fig.  26.    Watkins  Exposure 
Meter 


40 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


31 


1\  seconds  at  //16.    In  a  dark  subject,  give  too  much  rather  than 
too  little  time  by  the  table. 

Exposure  Meters.  The  exposure  meter  is  a  device  for  measur- 
ing the  strength  of  the  light  which  falls  upon  the  subject.  It  takes 
the  place  of  Table  II  and  of  the  correction  for  the  clouds.  Two 
types  of  exposure  meters  in  general  use  are  the  Watkins,  Fig.  26, 
and  the  Wynne,  Fig.  27. 

The  principle  of  both  meters  is  the  same.  A  disk  of  paper 
which  is  discolored  rapidly  by  light  is  movable  behind  a  slot,  and 
beside  the  slot  are  bits  of  color  which  the  paper  matches  in  the  course 
of  its  discoloration  under  the  influence  of  light.  The  more  intense 
the  light,  the  more  rapidly  does  the  exposed  bit  of  the  paper  disk 
become  discolored,  and  the  sooner  does  it  reach  a  tint  which 
matches  one  of  the  bits  of  color  adja- 
cent to  the  slot.  The  time  required  to 
match  the  darker  color  is  taken  as  ac- 
tinic value  of  the  light.  An  exposure- 
calculating  disk  forms  a  part  of  each 
meter.  Upon  and  near  the  calculating 
disk  are  sets  of  figures  for  (a)  the  ac- 
tinic or  meter  value  of  the  light,  as  noted 
in  the  number  of  seconds  which  is  taken 
by  the  paper  to  discolor  to  match  the 
dark  standard  tint;  (6)  the  speed  of  the 
plate  which  is  to  be  used  in  the  ex- 
posure; (c)  the  diaphragm  stop;  and  (d) 
the  required  exposure  in  seconds  or 
fraction  of  a  second. 

The  difference  between  the  two  meters  is  found  in  the  cal- 
culating device.  In  the  Watkins,  the  stop  number  is  set  opposite 
the  plate  number;  then  opposite  the  time  required  for  the  paper  to 
darken  is  found  the  time  required  to  impress  the  image  upon  the 
plate,  that  is,  the  exposure  time,  to  which  the  correction  for  the 
nature  of  the  subject  must  be  applied.  This  appears  to  be  the  more 
convenient  meter  for  the  amateur  either  with  hand  camera  or  tripod. 
In  the  Wynne,  the  time  required  by  the  paper  to  darken  is  set  opposite 
the  speed  number  of  the  plate;  then  opposite  the  stop  number  is 
read  the  required  exposure  for  a  standard  subject,  to  which  the  cor- 


Fig.   27.     W 


iVynne  Exposure 


41 


32  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

rection  for  the  nature  of  the  subject  must  be  applied.  This  is  the 
more  convenient  for  the  motion-picture  camera  operator  because 
of  an  exposure  limitation  in  the  motion-picture  art.  The  Wynne 
meter  is  preferred  by  many  fixed  camera  operators  who  have  be- 
come familiar  with  it.  Full  instructions  for  use  accompany  either 
meter  when  purchased. 

There  are  also  upon  the  market  many  exposure  meters,  so- 
called,  which  are  but  calculating  devices  for  combining  the  date 
table  with  the  cloud  correction,  subject  correction,  stop  number, 
and  plate  speed.  Perhaps,  when  facility  has  been  acquired  with 
one  of  them,  it  would  be  found  convenient. 

Exposures  with  Single  Lens.  When  the  front  lens  of  a  double 
lens  is  removed,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  larger  image,  or 
to  increase  the  prominence  of  the  background,  the  focal  length  of 
the  lens  has  been  changed,  without  changing  the  markings  of  the 
diaphragm  scale;  these  markings,  therefore,  are  not  correct  for  the 
single  lens.  To  obviate  this,  some  lenses  have  two  or  three  sets  of 
markings  on  the  diaphragm  scale,  one  for  the  double  lens  and  one 
for  a  single  lens  if  both  singles  be  of  the  same  focal  length,  while 
if  the  singles  be  of  different  focal  lengths  there  may  be  three  mark- 
ings, one  for  the  double  lens  and  one  for  each  of  the  singles. 

Where  the  singles  are  of  the  same  focal  length,  the  exposure 
time  for  a  single  lens  will  be  four  times  that  for  the  double  lens  with 
the  same  stop  setting,  to  compensate  for  the  difference  in  focal  length 
between  double  and  single. 

Where  the  singles  are  of  different  focal  lengths,  the  exposure 
for  the  short  single  will  be  three  times  that  for  the  double  lens,  and 
the  exposure  for  the  longer  single  will  be  six  times  that  for  the  double 
lens. 

Duplicate  Exposures.  When  much  is  in  doubt,  and  upon  sub- 
jects which  cannot  be  photographed  again,  two  exposures  may  be 
made,  using  two  plates,  and  giving  different  lengths  of  exposure. 
If  the  range  of  exposure  is  such  that  one  plate  has  ten  times  the 
exposure  of  the  other  both  may  give  good  negatives,  whereas,  if 
this  ratio  is  increased  to  twenty-to-one,  disappointment  may  be 
met  by  finding  one  plate  under-exposed  and  the  other  over-exposed. 
As  an  over-exposure  is  a  better  printing  proposition  than  an  under 
exposure,  a  good  rule  for  duplicate  exposures  is  as  follows: 


42 


8  IS 


PHOTOGRAPHY  33 

Estimate  the  exposure,  then  give  one  plate  half  the  estimate  and 
the  other  plate  five  times  the  estimate. 

Development.  The  subject  having  been  selected  and  arraned 
upon  the  ground  glass,  and  the  sensitive  plate  having  been  inserted 
and  exposed  by  setting  the  diaphragm  as  determined  by  judgment 
of  the  image,  and  setting  and  releasing  the  shutter  as  determined 
by  meter  or  Table  II  and  judgment  of  the  nature  of  the  subject, 
the  field  work  for  that  particular  plate  is  finished.  Other  plates 
may  be  exposed  before  developing  the  first,  and  development  may 
be  done  either  immediately  after  exposure  or  after  a  lapse  of  a  few 
days  or  weeks. 

The  exposed  plate  is  still  sensitive  to  light  and  must  be  kept 
in  the  holder  with  the  slide  closed  until  removed  in  the  darkroom. 
As  the  plate  itself  bears  no  evidence  whatever  of  having  been  ex- 
posed, it  is  impossible  to  tell  an  exposed  plate  from  an  unexposed 
one  except  by  applying  a  developer,  which  brings  out  the  image  if 
exposed  and  spoils  the  plate  if  unexposed.  The  indication  in  the 
field  or  in  the  darkroom  that  a  plate  has  been  exposed  is  the  slide 
of  the  holder,  which  should  have  its  white  side  out  for  an  unexposed 
plate  and  its  black  side  out  for  an  exposed  plate.  The  plate  when 
exposed  is  said  to  contain  a  latent  image,  because  the  invisible  image 
may  be  brought  out  and  made  visible  by  a  process  called  develop- 
ment. This  is  done  by  soaking  the  plate  in  a  chemical  solution 
which  turns  the  nitrate  of  silver  black  only  where  it  has  been  struck 
by  the  light  but  does  not  affect  it  otherwise. 

Negative  Image.  The  gelatine  film  of  the  plate  when  developed 
shows  the  image  which  was  seen  upon  the  ground  glass,  but  with 
its  lights  and  shadows  reversed.  A  black  sky  is  seen  above  a  white 
grassy  foreground;  a  black  brook  flows  under  white  trees;  the  figures 
in  the  picture  are  black  of  face  and  have  white  hair. 

Developers.  There  are  many  different  developers  on  the  market, 
each  with  its  claims.  The  selection  is  a  matter  of  personal  opinion, 
and  in  the  writer's  opinion  there  is  no  developer  as  good  as  pyro 
and  soda,  although  it  stains  the  fingers  if  the  operator  is  careless 
about  slopping  around  in  the  darkroom.  Hydroquinone  and  metol 
developer  is  second  choice,  and  this  does  not  stain  the  fingers. 

For  the  first  few  plates  to  be  developed,  the  amateur  should 
buy  a  ready-mixed  developer,  either  liquid  or  powder  form,  to  avoid 


43 


34  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

the  possibility  of  losing  all  of  the  first  batch  of  plates  through  a 
error  in  compounding  the  developing  solutions,  and  to  avoid  plac 
ing  a  blame  upon  improper  exposure  when  the  actual  fault  is  an 
error  in  compounding  the  developer.    Formulas  for  developers  will 
be  given  after  the  processes  of  development  with  ready-mixed  de- 
velopers have  been  studied. 

Trays  and  Covers.  The  developing  tray  is  a  flat  dish  having 
a  flat  bottom  so  the  glass  plate  will  lie  close  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
tray.  Half  a  dozen  should  be  available,  each  the  proper  size  for 
one  plates.  Covers  for  the  trays  should  be  light  tight.  A  good  cover 
is  a  developing  tray  of  such  size  that,  when  turned  over  the  smaller 
developing  tray,  it  will  come  down  to  the  developing  table  or  shelf 
all  around  the  edge.  Almost  as  good  but  not  so  convenient  a  cover 
is  a  folded  paper  larger  than  a  tray  laid  across  the  top  of  the  tray 
and  a  flat  weight,  such  as  a  small  piece  of  wood  larger  than  the 
developing  tray,which  is  laid  upon  the  paper  and  holds  it  close  to 
the  top  of  the  tray  all  around  the  edge.  A  measuring  glass  and  a 
thermometer  will  be  needed. 

Ruby  Lamp.  A  "safe"  light  is  one  which  may  shine  upon  a 
sensitive  plate  without  spoiling  the  plate.  Such  a  light  is  a  theoretical 
proposition.  I  To  determine  whether  your  ruby  lamp  is  safe,  cover 
half  a  plate  and  expose  for  five  minutes  to  the  direct  rays  of  the 
lamp  two  feet  away.  Then  develop.  If  the  half  exposed  to  the 
light  is  fogged,  the  lamp  is  not  entirely  safe,  although  it  may  be  good 
enough.  Very  few  lights  are  safe  which  are  strong  enough  to  be  of 
any  use.  It  is  quite  possible  to  use  an  unsafe  lamp  without  spoil- 
ing plates;  that  is  the  object  of  the  tray  covers.  The  writer  has  de- 
veloped many  plates  and  films  when  he  did  not  have  a  red  lamp  at  all. 

Sight  Development.  In  preparation  for  development,  set  a 
tray  18  inches  or  2  feet  from  the  red  lamp.  Beside  it  place  the  meas- 
uring glass  or  a  drinking  glass  containing  four  ounces — for  4  by  5 — 
or  six  ounces — for  5  by  7 — of  developer  at  65  degrees  by  the  ther- 
mometer, ready  to  pour  upon  the  plate  to  be  developed.  Have  a 
cover  for  the  developing  tray  handy.  A  foot  or  more  away,  beyond 
the  reach  of  splashes,  place  the  plate-holder  containing  the  exposed 
plate  to  be  developed.  A  pan  of  water,  larger  than  the  plate,  is 
convenient  for  rinsing  the  plate,  and  outside  of  the  darkroom  but  near 
it  is  a  developing  tray  containing  half  an  inch  in  depth  of  a  fixing 


44 


PHOTOGRAPHY  35 

solution  made  of  four  ounces  of  hyposulphite  of  soda  dissolved 
in  a  pint  of  water.  All  of  this  in  full  white  light,  that  no  mistakes 
may  occur.  A  clock  or  watch  in  the  darkroom  should  be  so  placed 
that  it  may  be  read  by  the  red  light.  Close  the  darkroom  door  and 
shut  off  all  light  but  the  red.  When  the  eyes  have  become  .^accus- 
tomed to  the  weak  red  light,  open  the  plate-holder,  lift  the  exposed 
plate  by  the  edges,  place  it  in  the  developing  tray  film  side  up,  glance 
at  the  clock,  pour  on  all  of  the  developer,  making  half  an  inch  deep 
over  the  plate  and  wait.  If  the  plate  is  a  landscape,  soon  one  part 
of  it  will  begin  to  look  gray;  this  is  the  sky  coming  up  under  the 
action  of  the  developer.  This  should  be  seen  in  from  half  a  minute 
to  one  minute  after  the  developer  is  poured  on.  Soon  the  outlines 
of  objects  in  the  foreground  will  be  seen,  and  by  the  end  of  two 
minutes  the  picture  will  be  completely  visible.  This  is  not  half  enough 
development.  The  picture  will  begin  to  fade  away,  to  sink  into  the 
film,  and  the  whole  plate  will  get  dark  on  the  surface.  When  the 
picture  has  had  five  or  six  minutes  and  seems  completely  spoiled, 
lift  the  plate  by  the  edges  and  see  whether  the  heavier  and  darker 
spots  have  come  through  upon  the  back  of  the  plate.  If  the  picture 
is  visible  upon  the  back,  through  the  glass  of  the  plate,  it  is  likely 
that  the  negative  is  very  good.  Rinse  in  the  pan  of  clean  water  for 
fifteen  seconds  or  more,  that  the  developer  may  be  washed  out  of 
the  film  as  well  as  washed  off  the  surface,  then  open  the  darkroom 
door  and  place  the  developed  plate  in  the  tray  of  hypo  outside; 
wash  the  hands  free  from  hypo  before  going  back  into  the  darkroom. 
At  this  time,  the  negative  will  show  the  black  image  upon  a  milky 
film.  When  held  to  the  light,  the  plate  is  opaque  and  the  image 
blurred.  After  five  minutes  in  the  fixing  bath  the  "milk"  of  the  film 
should  be  fading  rapidly,  and  ultimately  there  will  be  left  only  clear 
glass,  easily  seen  through,  with  the  image  sharp  and  black.  This 
is  sight  development.  The  plate  is  watched  all  the  time,  and  when 
the  image  is  strong  enough,  usually  judged  by  its  being  visible  through 
the  back  of  the  plate,  the  plate  is  taken  from  the  developer,  rinsed, 
and  placed  in  the  hypo  fixing  bath.  For  this  method  of  develop- 
ment, strong,  medium,  and  weak  developers  are  used.  Plates  which 
seem  slow  in  coming  up  are  put  in  strong  developer,  while  plates 
which  come  too  fast  are  placed  in  weak  developer.  Few  people 
understand  sight  development,  and  it  requires  an  experienced  eye 


45 


36  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

to  decide  when  the  development  should  be  stopped.  It  is  not  a  good 
method  for  an  amateur,  but  it  should  be  used  for  the  first  plate,  that 
the  amateur  may  see  what  the  process  of  development  really  is,  even 
though  the  first  plate  be  spoiled  in  learning. 

Factorial  Development.  This  system  is  a  modification  of  the 
sight  development  system  which  brings  development  within  the 
range  of  the  amateur.  The  developer  should  be  mixed  according 
to  a  standard  formula,  it  should  be  at  65  degrees  by  the  thermometer, 
and  the  factor  should  be  known.  With  ready-mixed  developers,  the 
factor  usually  is  printed  on  the  wrapper  of  the  package. 

.  A  plate  properly  exposed  will  show  gray  in  the  sky  in  one-half 
minute  and  be  fully  developed  in  six  minutes.  A  plate  which  has 
had  a  little  too  much  exposure  will  be  fully  developed  in  five  minutes, 
but  it  will  show  its  first  gray  in  twenty-five  seconds  from  the  time 
the  developer  is  poured  on.  A  much  over-exposed  plate  will  be  fully 
developed  perhaps  in  three  minutes,  but  it  will  show  its  first  gray  in 
fifteen  seconds.  An  under-exposed  plate  may  need  twelve  minutes 
of  development,  because  with  the  less  exposure  the  image  builds 
up  more  slowly  and  also  appears  at  first  more  slowly,  taking  one 
minute  to  show  its  first  gray.  It  has  been  noted  that  the  total  time 
of  development  required  is  always — with  pyro  developer — about 
twelve  times  the  time  required  for  the  plate  to  show  its  first  gray, 
hence,  we  have  this  factorial  development  system  with  this  rule : 

Have  the  developer  at  65  degrees,  and  notice  the  time  from  pour- 
ing it  upon  the  plate  until  the  first  gray  is  shown.  Cover  up  the  tray 
and  wait  until  it  has  devoloped  twelve  times  that  long;  then  wash  it 
and  place  it  in  the  fixing  bath.  This  method  protects  the  plate 
from  the  red  light  except  for  the  first  minute,  and  even  this  may  be 
reduced  by  holding  the  tray  cover  between  the  tray  and  the  light 
and  only  removing  the  cover  for  a  second  every  five  or  ten  seconds 
until  the  first  gray  is  noticed.  This  is  a  thoroughly  practical  system 
for  amateurs.  Two  or  more  plates  may  be  started  at  once  in  different 
trays,  and  still  others  started  while  these  are  developing.  The 
time  for  taking  out  of  the  developer  may  be  written  on  a  slip  of  paper 
placed  on  top  of  each  tray  cover. 

Tank  Development.  By  the  name,  this  is  a  large  tank,  capable 
of  holding  several  plates,  or  several  dozen  plates,  and  filled  with 
developer.  The  developer  is  at  65  degrees.  The  plates  are  put  in, 


46 


PHOTOGRAPHY  37 

left  twenty  minutes,  taken  out,  rinsed,  and  placed  in  the  fixing  bath. 
This  is  a  simple  method  used  by  professionals  and  suitable  for 
amateurs.  It  merely  requires  care  that  the  developer  is  standard 
strength  and  standard  temperature. 

In  the  amateur's  darkroom,  this  tank  method  operates  as  fol- 
lows: Prepare  developer  according  to  tank  formula;  by  red  light 
place  a  plate  in  a  tray  and  fill  the  tray  with  tank  developer  at  65 
degrees;  wait  twenty  minutes;  remove  plate,  wash  and  fix  in  the  hypo 
bath.  In  hot  weather,  the  trays  should  be  cooled  to  65  degrees  or 
they  will  heat  the  developer;  in  cold  weather  it  may  be  necessary  to 
warm  them  to  65  degrees.  This  method  sometimes  is  called  the 
time  and  temperature  method.  With  a  few  plates  to  develop  it  is 
not  economical  of  time  nor  of  developer  but  the  results  will  average 
higher  in  quality  than  with  either  sight  or  factorial  method  of  de- 
velopment in  the  hands  of  an  amateur. 

Developing  without  the  Red  Lamp.  To  develop  without  the 
red  lamp  is  merely  a  matter  of  time  and  temperature,  and  handling 
the  plates  by  touch.  By  white  light,  pour  the  developer  into  the 
tray  (65  degrees);  have  the  cover  at  one  side  and  the  plate-holder 
at  the  other.  Put  out  the  light  and  in  darkness  remove  the  plate  from 
the  holder,  place  it  in  the  tray  of  developer,  and  place  the  cover  on 
the  tray.  Light  the  white  light,  look  at  the  watch,  wait  twenty  minutes, 
remove  the  plate  in  white  light,  rinse  quickly  and  thoroughly  and 
place  in  the  fixing  bath.  The  secret  of  this  process  is  that  white 
light  followed  quickly  by  a  fixing  bath  does  not  injure  the  plate. 

Washing  before  Fixing.  The  plates  should  be  washed  before 
fixing  in  order  to  keep  the  developer  out  of  the  fixing  bath.  The 
negatives  will  become  stained  in  the  fixing  bath  if  this  is  not  done. 

Fixing.  The  milky  silver  of  the  plate  must  all  be  removed. 
To  insure  this,  the  plate  should  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  fixing 
bath  after  the  milky  appearance  is  gone  for  a  time  half  as  long  as 
was  required  to  remove  the  milky  appearance. 

Fixing  after  Washing.  The  hyposulphite  of  soda  must  be 
thoroughly  washed  out  of  the  film  or  the  negative  will  spoil  with 
age.  An  hour  in  running  water,  or  soaking  for  fifteen  minutes  each 
in  six  changes  of  water  should  insure  the  complete  removal  of  the 
hypo.  The  plate  then  is  set  on  edge  or  placed  in  a  rack  to  dry  in  a 
place  where  dust  will  not  settle  upon  its  sticky  wet  surface. 


47 


38  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Developing  Formulas.  A  convenient  method  for  compounding 
developers  is  to  open  an  ounce  box  of  pyro  or  other  developing 
agent  and  weigh  it  all  out  into  quantities  each  of  which  will  make 
one  pint  of  developing  solution  ready  for  use.  These  quantities 
may  be  wrapped  in  waxed  paper  and  packed  in  an  air-tight  can, 
bottle,  or  box.  Similar  powders  of  soda  may  be  made  up,  and  when 
developer  is  wanted  it  is  necessary  only  to  take  one  powder  from 
each  can  and  dissolve  in  a  pint  of  water. 

Pyro  Developer: 

First  powder — 14  grains  pyro 

Second  powder — 80  grains  sulphite  of  soda,  anhydrous 
55  grains  carbonate  of  soda,  anhydrous 

For  sight  or  factorial  development,  take  one  each  of  the  powders 
and  16  ounces  of  water.  Temperature  65;  factor  12.  A  normal 
exposure  should  develop  for  about  six  minutes. 

For  tank,  or  "time  and  temperature"  development,  take  one 
each  of  the  powders  and  36  ounces  of  water.  Temperature,  65; 
time  20  minutes. 

Pyro  developer  can  be  used  only  once  except  for  sight  develop- 
ment, and  even  then  it  is  not  advised.  It  must  be  used  within  a  few 
minutes  after  dissolving  but  will  keep  indefinitely  before  dissolving. 

Hydro-Metol  Developer: 

First  powder —  14  grains  metol 

14  grains  hydroquinone 

Second  powder — 104  grains  sulphite  of  soda,  anhydrous 
104  grains  carbonate  of  soda,  anhydrous 

Dissolve  separately  one  each  of  the  powders  in  8  ounces  of  water; 
pour  together,  making  16  ounces  of  developer  for  sight  or  factorial 
development.  Temperature  65;  factor  15. 

For  tank,  add  water  to  make  36  ounces  of  developer;  tempera- 
ture 65;  time  20  minutes. 

Hydro-metol  developer  may  be  used  repeatedly  for  sight  devel- 
opment, but  works  more  slowly  after  the  first  use. 

Plain  Hypo  Fixing  Bath: 

4  ounces  hypo  crystals 
16  ounces  water 


48 


PHOTOGRAPHY  39 

This  bath  will  keep  indefinitely  until  used,  but  will  not  keep 
after  it  has  been  used.  It  may  be  used  for  several  plates  but  works 
more  slowly  after  the  first.  Wash  the  plates  well  before  putting  them 
into  the  plain  hypo  bath,  for  a  little  developer  in  the  plain  hypo 
will  stain  the  plates  if  they  are  left  in  the  bath  long. 

Acid  Hypo  Fixing  Bath: 

16  ounces  water 

4  ounces  hyposulphite  of  soda,  crystals 
80  grains  sulphite  of  soda,  anhydrous 
60  grains  powdered  alum 

1  dram  citric  acid 

Dissolve  completely  the  hyposulphite  and  the  sulphite  before  add- 
ing the  alum  and  citric  acid,  or  the  bath  will  be  milky  and  less 
efficient. 

The  acid  fixing  bath  will  keep  before  and  after  using.  It  may 
be  used  repeatedly  as  long  as  it  will  dissolve  the  silver  from  the  film, 
but  it  works  more  slowly  after  the  first  use.  It  is  less  likely  to  stain 
the  negative  from  developer,  but  will  do  so  if  too  much  developer 
gets  into  it,  and  after  it  becomes  weakened  with  repeated  use.  It 
should  not  be  used  after  having  become  discolored  with  developer, 
for  fear  of  stains  upon  the  negative. 

Removing  Pyro  Stains.  Negatives  stained  with  pyro  may  be 
cleared  after  washing  and  drying  in  the  usual  way  by  immersing  in 
a  bath  of 

3  ounces  iron  sulphate  (copperas) 
16  ounces  water 

\  ounce  sulphuric  acid 

1  ounce  powdered  alum 

Wash  and  dry  as  after  fixing.  The  pyro  negative  has  an  olive 
green  natural  color  which  adds  much  to  its  good  printing  qualities. 
This  color  is  not  a  stain,  and  should  not  be  removed.  The  copperas 
clearing  bath  will  remove  the  yellow  blotches  which  sometimes 
appear  on  pyro  negatives  because  of  developer  in  the  fixing  bath. 
Intensifying  a  Negative: 

First  solution — 120  grains  mercuric  chloride 
120  grains  potassium  bromide 
12  ounces  water 


49 


40  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Second  solution — 1  ounce  sulphite  of  soda 
8  ounces  water 

Soak  the  negative  in  the  first  solution  until  it  is  white,  then  wash 
thoroughly  and  soak  in  the  second  solution  until  it  is  as  dark  as 
desired.    Wash  thoroughly  and  dry. 
Reducing  a  Dense  Negative: 
32  ounces  water 

1  ounce  hypo 
15  grains  of  red  prussiate  potash 

Dissolve  the  hypo  completely  in  half  the  water;  dissolve  the 
potash  in  the  remaining  water;  and  pour  the  potash  into  the  hypo. 
Reducing  Contrast  in  Negative: 

8  ounces  water 

3  grains  permanganate  of  potash 

6  drops  sulphuric  acid 

Intensification.  When  the  shadows  of  a  negative  are  only  gray, 
either  because  of  too  short  exposure  or  too  short  development,  or 
because  of  too  long  exposure  and  consequent  very  short  development 
under  the  sight  or  factorial  system  of  development,  the  printing 
quality  of  the  negative  may  be  improved  by  intensification  by  the 
mercury  process,  provided  always  that  the  negative  is  not  spoiled 
by  the  amateur  efforts  at  intensification.  Intensification  and  reduc- 
tion of  negatives  should  be  avoided  by  mastering  the  art  of  exposure. 

Reduction.  When  the  entire  negative  is  too  dense,  use  the 
potash  reducer.  When  the  clear  portions  print  satisfactorily  but  the 
dark  portions  are  too  dense,  giving  too  much  contrast  in  the  print, 
use  the  permanganate  reducer.  Except  with  skill,  the  negative  may 
be  ruined  with  either.  It  is  well  to  experiment  on  a  few  negatives 
of  small  value  before  attempting  either  reduction  or  intensification 
of  a  precious  picture — and  make  a  few  prints  from  the  negative  before 
risking  it  by  intensifying  or  reducing. 

Retouching  and  Spotting.  Retouching  consists  of  working  upon 
the  negative,  usually  with  pencils,  to  improve  its  quality  or  to  modify 
the  image.  First,  varnish  the  negative  with  a  good  retouching  var- 
nish. Then,  working  with  a  fine  pencil  point,  a  dark  line  in  the 
print,  as  a  wrinkle  in  a  face,  which  shows  as  a  light  line  in  the  negative, 
may  be  so  penciled  over  that  it  is  much  reduced  in  the  print  or  does 


60 


PHOTOGRAPHY  41 

not  show  at  all.  Retouching  is  a  task  which  usually  requires  special 
training  and  much  skill. 

Pin-holes.  Small  transparent  spots  sometimes  appear  in  a  nega- 
tive, resembling  pin-holes  in  appearance,  due  to  defect  in  the  gelatine 
of  the  plate,  to  grains  of  dust  on  the  plate  during  exposure  keeping 
the  light  from  striking  the  plate  under  the  dust  grain,  or  to  air  bubbles 
clinging  to  the  plate  during  development.  These  may  be  blacked 
in  by  a  weak  solution  of  India  ink  applied  with  a  small  camel's-hair 
brush  formed  down  to  an  extremely  fine  point.  Several  applications 
of  a  thin  color,  just  touching  the  spot  with  the  tip  of  the  brush  until 
the  film  absorbs  the  ink,  will  gradually  darken  the  pin-hole  until  it 
matches  the  part  of  the  negative  immediately  surrounding  it. 

An  opaque  spot  on  the  negative,  such  as  might  be  produced  by  a 
grain  of  dust  caught  by  the  film  while  drying,  or  by  an  overspotted  pin- 
hole,  will  make  a  light  spot  on  the  print,  which  then  may  be  spotted  out 
upon  each  print  with  India  ink  in  the  same  manner  as  upon  the  negative. 

PRINTING 

Printing  consists  of  transferring  the  image  from  the  glass  nega- 
tive to  a  sheet  of  sensitive  paper,  and  then  rendering  the  paper  in- 
sensitive so  that  the  transferred  image  cannot  change.  This  trans- 
fer of  the  image  to  the  printing  paper  is  effected  without  changing 
or  injuring  the  negative,  and  as  many  finished  prints  as  are  desired 
may  be  made  from  one  negative. 

The  negative  is  not  a  reproduction  of  the  view,  but  a  record 
of  the  image  in  reversed  or  "negative"  form,  with  the  lights  of  the 
view  showing  dark  and  the  shadows  showing  light.  The  print  is 
made  from  the  negative  by  the  use  of  chemicals  which  discolor 
when  acted  upon  by  light,  giving  a  shadow  in  the  print  where  the 
negative  is  clear,  and  a  high  light  where  the  negative  shows  dark. 
The  print  thus  is  a  "negative  of  a  negative,"  and  shows  the,  view 
in  its  proper  relation  of  light  and  shade. 

Processes.  Four  processes  of  printing,  or  producing  positive 
pictures  from  photographic  negatives,  are  in  general  use: 

(1)     Printing-out  toning  processes; 

(#)     Printing-out  self-toning  processes; 

(#)     Developing  or  gaslight  processes; 

(4)     Enlarging  or  lens-printing. 


51 


42  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

In  each  case,  the  process  consists  of  subjecting  a  sheet  of  sensitized 
printing  paper  to  the  action  of  light  which  has  passed  through  the 
negative,  then  "fixing"  the  print  thus  made. 

Printing  Frame.  The  printing  frame  consists  of  two  parts, 
frame  and  back.  The  frame  is  open,  with  a  rabbet  of  proper  size 
to  take  the  glass  negative  as  a  piece  of  glass  is  placed  in  a  picture 
frame.  The  back  is  in  two  parts,  hinged  together,  each  part  having 
spring  clamps  for  fastening  it  into  the  frame.  The  negative  and 
then  the  print  paper  are  put  in  the  frame,  the  back  is  put  on,  and  the 
clamps  closed.  The  loaded  frame  is  placed  in  the  sunlight  and  the 
printing  paper  is  discolored  by  the  light  passing  through  the  negative. 
By  unclamping  one  part  of  the  back  and  opening  it  on  its  hinge 
carefully,  the  progress  of  the  print  may  be  observed.  The  remain- 
ing clamped  part  of  the  back  holds  the  print  paper  and  the  negative 
in  alignment  while  the  free  end  of  the  print  is  looked  at. 

Printing=out  Papers.  These  papers  are  so  called  because  the 
pictures  "print  out"  or  become  visible  while  the  paper  is  printing 
in  the  sun.  The  printing  paper  consists  of  a  sheet  of  paper  with  a 
film  on  one  side,  similar  to  the  film  of  a  glass  plate,  but  very  much 
less  rapid,  or  less  sensitive  to  light.  In  handling  it,  the  red  light  is 
not  required,  as  ordinary  gas  light  or  the  light  of  an  oil  lamp  does 
not  affect  the  paper.  Subdued  daylight,  as  in  a  room  with  the  shades 
drawn,  usually  is  safe  and  does  not  affect  the  printing-out  paper. 

Chloride  Papers.  The  usual  "silver"  paper  consists  of  chloride 
of  silver  held  in  a  surface  of  gelatine,  collodion,  or  albumen.  It 
requires  the  three  steps  of  printing  in  the  frame,  toning  in  a  gold 
bath,  and  then  fixing  in  hypo,  in  addition  to  many  wash  waters,  to 
produce  the  finished  print  ready  for  mounting  upon  a  card. 

To  print,  lay  the  printing  frame  face  down,  lay  the  negative 
in  the  printing  frame  with  the  film  side  up,  lay  the  piece  of  printing 
paper  on  the  negative  with  the  sensitive  side  down,  then  a  pad  of 
half  a  dozen  pieces  of  newspaper  cut  the  right  size,  then  put  in  the 
back  and  fasten  the  clamps.  When  thus  filled,  place  the  frame  in 
the  strongest  light  possible — direct  sunlight  is  best — with  the  glass 
side  toward  the  sun.  The  progress  of  printing  may  be  watched  by 
looking  at  one  half  of  the  print  from  time  to  time,  opening  the  frame 
and  turning  back  the  end  of  the  print,  as  shown  in  Fig.  28.  This 
examination  must  be  made  in  the  shade,  at  least  with  the  frame 


PHOTOGRAPHY  43 

held  in  the  shadow  of  the  operator's  body.  Continue  the  printing 
until  the  picture  is  much  darker  than  desired  in  the  finished  photo- 
graph. Print  until  the  details  in  the  half-tones  have  disappeared, 
indeed  until  the  print  seems  spoiled.  It  will  fade  back  in  the  toning, 
fixing,  and  washing  to  give  what  is 
wanted.  The  degree  of  over-print- 
ing can  be  learned  only  by  experi- 
ence and  practice. 

There  are  many  different  brands 
of  paper  offered  by  manufacturers, 
and  the  explicit  instructions  which 
accompany  each  package  of  print- 
ing  paper  should  be  followed.  At  Fig'  28'  J!S£&*5ft8**  '°r 
first,  use  a  toning  bath  bought  ready 

mixed,  if  it  can  be  bought  especially  prepared  for  the  particular 
paper  used.  The  formulas  which  follow  are  representative,  and  are 
adapted  for  most  chloride  printing-out  papers. 

Washing  before  Toning.  Place  the  prints  in  running  water  or 
wash  through  several  changes  until  the  wash  water  no  longer  shows 
milkiness.  The  silver  unaffected  by  light  will  be  washed  out.  The 
prints  will  get  lighter  and  reddish  in  color.  Keep  the  prints  moving 
while  in  the  wash  water. 

Toning.     Make  two  stock  solutions. 

Gold  Solution 

7^  grains  pure  chloride  of  gold 
8    ounces  pure  water 

or  15  grains  chloride  of  gold  and  sodium  may  be  used  instead  of 
the  pure  chloride. 

Soda  Solution 

Pure  water 

Bicarbonate  of  soda  to  saturate 

By  saturation  is  meant  to  put  into  the  bottle  of  water  all  the  soda 
crystals  it  will  dissolve. 

For  a  dozen  4  by  5  prints,  shake  the  bottle  of  gold  and  take  one- 
half  ounce  of  the  solution  and  eight  ounces  of  water,  place  a  piece 
of  red  litmus  paper  in  it  and  add  the  soda  solution  drop  by  drop 
until  the  litmus  paper  begins  to  turn  blue.  If  the  litmus  paper  turns 


53 


44  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

blue  too  rapidly,  add  a  drop  or  two  more  of  the  gold  to  slow  it.  A 
fresh  piece  of  litmus  paper  should  show  slight  blue  at  the  end  of  one 
minute.  This  toning  bath  must  be  nicely  balanced  between  the  gold 
and  soda,  and  then  left  for  half  an  hour  to  ripen  before  using.  Mix 
the  toning  bath,  and  let  it  ripen  while  washing  the  prints.  Place 
the  washed  prints  in  the  toning  bath  and  keep  them  moving. 

Stopping.  The  prints  will  change  in  color  through  a  range  of 
browns  to  purple  or  black.  They  may  be  stopped  brown  or  at  any 
shade  desired.  When  any  print  has  reached  its  desired  shade,  change 
it  to  the  stop  solution. 

Stop  Solution 
1  ounce  table  salt 
1  gallon  water 

Fixing.  When  all  prints  are  toned  and  stopped,  place  them 
in  a  fixing  bath  and  keep  them  moving  for  twenty  minutes.  The 
alum  fixing  bath  is  preferable. 

Soda  Fixing  Bath 
1  gallon  water 
1  pound  hyposulphite  of  soda 

Alum  Fixing  Bath 
1  gallon  water 

8  ounces  hyposulphite  of  soda,  crystals 
3  ounces  alum,  crystals 
I  ounce  sulphite  of  soda,  crystals 
1  ounce  borax 

Dissolve  the  borax  in  a  pint  of  hot  water.  Dissolve  the  remain- 
ing chemicals  in  the  remaining  water,  then  pour  in  the  borax  solu- 
tion. This  bath  must  be  made  up  the  day  before  it  is  needed.  It 
keeps  indefinitely  both  before  and  after  using  but  should  not  be 
used  after  fixing  two  dozen  4  by  5  prints  to  the  pint. 

Final  Washing.  After  fixing,  the  hypo  must  be  thoroughly 
washed  out  or  the  prints  will  become  discolored  with  age.  Wash 
for  an  hour  in  running  water,  or  for  two  hours  in  changing  water, 
changing  the  water  at  first  every  five  minutes.  To  change  the  water 
on  the  prints,  use  two  dishes,  lifting  the  prints  one  by  one  from  the 
first  dish  into  the  second,  with  a  moment  of  draining. 


54 


PHOTOGRAPHY  45 

Combined  Toning  and  Fixing.  Two  stock  solutions  are  re- 
quired, soda  and  gold. 

Stock  Soda  Solution 
8  ounces  hyposulphite  of  soda,  crystals 
G  ounces  alum,  crystals 
2  ounces  granulated  sugar 
2  ounces  borax 
88  ounces  water 

Dissolve  the  borax  in  a  half-pint  of  hot  water;  dissolve  the 
remaining  chemicals  in  the  remaining  water,  cold,  and  pour  in  the 
borax.  Let  stand  over  night  and  pour  off  the  clear  liquid. 

Stock  Gold  Solution 
7J  grains  pure  chloride  of  gold 
64  grains  acetate  of  lead 
8  ounces  water 

Fifteen  grains  chloride  of  gold  and  sodium  may  be  used  instead 
of  the  pure  chloride  of  gold.  Do  not  filter.  Shake  before  using. 

For  fifteen  4  by  5  prints,  take  8  ounces  of  stock  soda  and  one 
ounce  of  stock  gold  and  put  in  the  dry,  raw  prints  without  washing 
before  toning.  When  properly  toned,  stop  them  in  a  solution  of 
1  ounce  of  salt  and  1  quart  of  water.  Then  if  possible  use  the  acid 
fixing  bath  for  ten  minutes  to  ensure  thorough  fixing.  Wash  finally 
for  an  hour  in  running  water,  or  the  equivalent  in  changing  waters. 

The  formula  given  for  the  combined  toning  and  fixing  bath  is 
a  thoroughly  tested  one,  and  may  be  bought  ready  mixed  under  the 
name  of  "Solio  Toning  Solution." 

Self=Toning  Paper.  These  are  printing-out  papers  which  take 
a  brown  tone  without  the  use  of  the  gold  toning  solution.  Their 
manipulation  is  much  simpler  than  the  ordinary  printing-out  papers. 
Some  of  them  require  only  washing  in  water  to  tone  and  to  render 
the  print  permanent.  Others  require  a  hypo  solution,  but  in  all 
instances  the  claim  of  self-toning  is  justified  by  the  simplicity  of  the 
operations  required  after  printing. 

Blue  Prints.  When  purchased,  the  blue  print  paper  has  one 
side  coated  with  a  sensitizing  solution  containing  iron.  The  coated 
side  varies  from  a  light  yellow  to  green  in  color.  When  printed  under 
a  negative  in  a  printing  frame  in  the  sun  as  with  any  other  printing- 


55 


46  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

out  paper,  the  image  comes  up  a  dull  dark  blue  and  the  shadows 
change  to  a  gray  or  bronze  appearance.  Print  until  the  deep  shadows 
are  bronze  and  until  the  detail  is  lost  and  the  print  seems  spoiled. 
Then  wash  in  clear  water  until  all  the  yellow  is  washed  out  of  the 
print  and  dry.  Too  long  washing  will  lose  the  details  and  half  tones 
of  the  picture.  The  picture  is  blue  and  white,  and  is  permanent. 

Sepia.  Print  as  for  blue  prints,  but  develop  in  a  very  weak 
solution  of  hyposulphite  of  soda  before  final  washing.  If  the  hypo 
is  too  strong,  the  prints  will  fade  in  the  bath.  The  sepia  print  must 
be  placed  in  the  hypo  and  then  in  the  wash  water  instantly  when  re- 
moved from  the  printing  frame;  it  will  not  "keep"  even  a  few  minutes. 

Developing  Papers.  The  amateur  who  is  employed  during  the 
day  will  find  his  time  best  disposed  and  will  get  the  most  enjoyment 
out  of  his  photographic  occupations  by  using  his  holidays  in  the  field 
with  his  camera  making  exposures  for  new  negatives  and  by  making 
his  prints  by  artificial  light  in  the  evenings.  The  printing  papers 
which  are  offered  for  contact  printing  by  artificial  light  are  sub- 
stantially slow  plate  films  spread  upon  paper  supports.  The  proc- 
esses of  exposure,  development,  and  fixing  are  substantially  the 
same.  Pyro  cannot  be  used.  The  hydro-metol  formula  for  developer 
for  plates  and  the  fixing  baths  either  plain  or  acid  are  proper  for 
developing  papers.  The  acid  fixing  bath  is  preferred.  Visual  de- 
velopment is  entirely  satisfactory  and  factorial  or  tank  development 
need  not  be  attempted.  With  normal  working  and  a  normal  negative, 
a  finished  print  is  in  the  fixing  bath  in  less  than  one  minute  after  the  neg- 
ative and  paper  are  put  in  the  printing  frame,  giving  a  decided  advan- 
tage for  the  amateur  over  the  slower  processes  of  printing-out  papers. 

The  sensitive  coating  of  developing  papers  is  made  much  slower 
in  response  to  light  than  the  coating  used  for  plates,  so  much  so 
that  red  light  is  unnecessary.  The  developing  trays  may  be  placed 
upon  a  table  6  feet  or  more  from  a  gas  jet,  but  when  developing 
the  operator  should  stand  with  his  back  to  the  gas  jet  and  with  the 
shadow  of  his  body  falling  over  the  developing  tray.  The  paper 
should  be  kept  covered  or  wrapped  in  black  paper  before  printing, 
and  should  be  loaded  into  the  printing  frame  in  the  shadow  of  the 
operator's  body. 

The  printing  outfit  required  consists  of  a  printing  frame,  Fig. 
28,  and  three  developing  trays.  Place  the  three  trays  in  a  row, 


56 


PHOTOGRAPHY  47 

developer  in  the  left,  water  in  the  middle,  and  fixing  bath  in  the 
right.  The  trays  are  very  convenient  if  of  a  larger  size  than  the 
prints  to  be  made,  and  the  quantity  of  solutions  contained  must  be 
liberal.  Each  print  passed  through  the  developer  consumes  some 
of  the  strength  of  the  solution,  thus  weakening  it,  and  if  the  quan- 
tity of  the  developer  is  small  the  print  may  weaken  it  to  such  an 
extent  that  two  prints  from  the  same  negative  and  having  the  same 
exposure  will  develop  differently  because  of  the  weakening  of  a  small 
quantity  of  developer  by  the  first  of  the  prints.  A  developer  may 
be  used  repeatedly  until  it  becomes  too  slow  in  action. 

Developing  papers  may  be  printed  by  exposing  the  loaded 
printing  frame  to  daylight,  but  daylight  is  so  variable  from  minute 
to  minute,  if  there  are  clouds  in  the  sky,  that  an  element  of  uncer- 
tainty and,  therefore,  an  element  of  failure  is  brought  into  the  opera- 
tion of  making  the  prints.  Artificial  light  usually  is  constant  and  is 
preferable  for  that  reason.  With  a  4  by  5  printing  frame,  loaded 
with  a  medium  negative,  and  held  7  inches  from  an  ordinary  gas  or 
incandescent  electric  lamp,  a  trial  exposure  of  twenty  seconds  may 
be  made.  Remove  the  paper  from  the  frame — it  shows  no  image — 
and  immerse  in  the  developer.  In  fifteen  seconds  it  should  be  com- 
pletely developed,  and  unless  transferred  quickly  to  the  water  it  will 
be  over-developed.  Rinse  for  a  few  seconds  in  the  water  to  remove 
the  developer  from  the  surface  and  place  it  in  the  fixing  bath.  After 
fifteen  minutes  in  the  fixing  bath,  wash  and  dry.  To  be  able  to  stop 
the  development  at  the  proper  instant  upon  an  over-exposed  print, 
lift  the  print  when  development  is  nearly  complete  and  let  the  develop- 
ing solution  drain  back  into  the  tray.  The  print  will  continue  develop- 
ing for  a  few  seconds  while  held  in  the  air,  because  of  the  developer 
which  clings  to  the  surface.  At  the  proper  instant,  plunge  it  into 
the  wash  water,  which  will  stop  development  almost  instantly,  and 
then  into  the  fixing  bath.  Turn  an  under-exposed  print  face  down 
in  the  developing  tray  to  avoid  fog  during  prolonged  development. 

If  with  a  proper  exposure  the  whites  of  the  picture  are  gray 
before  the  shadows  are  deep  enough,  the  addition  of  a  few  drops 
of  a  solution  of  bromide  of  potassium — 1  ounce  bromide  of  potassium 
dissolved  in  10  ounces  water — will  tend  to  keep  them  clear.  Too  much 
bromide  in  the  developer  will  give  olive  tones  to  the  print.  Old  and 
slow  developerwill  give  purplish  tones  to  the  print.  Fresh  normal  devel- 


57 


48  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

oper,  without  too  much  bromide  will  give  pure  blacks  and  whites  with 
untinted  half  tones  throughout  the  entire  range  from  light  to  shadow. 

The  time  of  development  should  be  about  fifteen  seconds  with 
normal  developer,  average  negatives,  and  regular  qualities  of  develop- 
ing papers.  The  amount  of  exposure  should  be  gauged  to  require 
this  time  of  development.  The  length  of  exposure  may  be  regulated 
to  some  extent  by  the  distance  between  the  light  and  the  printing 
frame.  Double  the  distance  for  the  same  negative  requires  four 
times  the  length  of  exposure,  and  half  the  distance  requires  but  one- 
quarter  the  length  of  exposure,  but  if  the  printing  frame  is  brought 
too  near  the  light  the  center  of  the  picture  will  be  printed  darker 
than  the  edges  and  the  heat  may  crack  the  glass  negative.  If  the 
length  of  exposure  is  shorter  than  twenty  seconds,  increase  the 
distance  from  the  light  and  give  a  longer  exposure.  It  is  very  difficult 
to  time  accurately  an  exposure  of  less  than  twenty  seconds,  and  by 
adopting  a  longer  exposure  the  proper  length  may  be  given  more 
accurately.  The  adjustment  of  exposure  by  distance  also  involves 
printing  a  thin  negative  by  weak  light  and  a  dense  negative  by  strong 
light,  a  rule  usually  recommended  by  the  makers  of  gaslight  papers. 
To  secure  uniformity  of  illumination  over  the  entire  negative,  a 
4  by  5  frame  should  not  be  exposed  closer  than  7  inches  from  the  light, 
and  a  5  by  7  frame  not  closer  than  10  inches. 

Several  different  brands  of  developing  papers  are  to  be  bought 
in  the  market,  all  differing  from  each  other  to  some  extent,  and 
for  each  brand  the  manufacturer  advises  a  specific  treatment,  de- 
veloper compound,  etc.  The  instructions  with  the  paper  should 
be  read  carefully  until  understood. 

Lens  Printing.  In  a  contact  print,  the  images  of  the  print  always 
are  of  the  exact  size  of  the  images  in  the  negative;  it  is  not  possible 
in  a  contact  print  to  make  a  print  larger  than  the  negative,  and  it 
is  possible  to  make  a  print  smaller  than  the  negative  only  by  omitting 
some  portion  of  the  view,  such  as  the  margins,  the  images  actually 
printed  being  of  the  size  of  those  of  the  negative.  By  printing  through 
a  lens  it  is  possible  to  change  the  size  of  the  images  of  the  picture, 
producing  a  print  either  smaller  or  larger  than  the  negative  from 
which  it  is  taken. 

Printing  through  a  lens  is  a  process  requiring  longer  exposures 
or  more  sensitive  printing  paper  than  contact  printing,  since  ail 


58 


FOOD  FOR  THE  HUNGRY 
Scene  from  Photoplay,  "How  He  Redeemed  Hi 
Courtesy  of  the  Champion  Film  Company,  Neu 


self  ' 
York 


SCENE  FROM  PHOTOPLAY,  "THREE  OF  A  KIND" 

Courtesy  of  Independent  Moving  Pictures  Co.,  New  York 


PHOTOGRAPHY  49 

the  light  which  may  fall  upon  the  negative  cannot  be  passed  through 
the  negative  and  lens  effectively  to  act  upon  the  print  paper.  To 
bring  the  time  of  exposure  within  reasonable  limits,  a  paper  called 
bromide  paper  is  used.  This  is  much  more  sensitive  to  light  than  the 
brands  used  for  contact  printing.  When  arrangements  are  made  to 
illuminate  the  negative  by  daylight,  the  use  of  bromide  paper  will 
bring  the  exposures  frequently  to  less  than  one  minute  in  length.  The 
length  of  exposure  will  depend  upon  the  size  of  the  enlarged  picture, 
as  well  as  upon  the  size  and  density  of  the  negative,  the  diaphragm 
stop  of  the  lens  used,  and  the  intensity  of  the  light. 

Bromide  paper  cannot  be  handled  in  daylight  or  in  gaslight, 
as  ordinary  developing  papers. are  handled,  but  must  be  worked 
in  the  darkroom.  It  is  developed  and  fixed  as  the  ordinary  develop- 
ing papers  are,  the  developing  and  fixing  formulas  given  for  the 
developing  papers  being  in  general  suitable  for  bromide  papers, 
but  in  the  case  of  the  bromide  papers  the  instructions  accompany- 
ing each  brand  of  paper  should  also  be  studied  until  understood, 
and  if  possible  the  exact  formulas  which  accompany  the  paper  should 
be  used  in  working  the  paper.  The  manufacturer  has  done  all  the 
experimenting  necessary  to  produce  good  results. 

Enlargements.  To  make  an  enlargement,  a  window  must  be 
closed  with  a  tight  screen  having  a  hole  in  it  a  little  larger  than 
the  negative,  and  at  such  a  height  that  the  camera  may  be  backed 
up  against  the  hole  to  close  it.  A  cloth  thrown  about  the  camera 
when  thus  placed  will  seal  the  window  light  tight.  Cut  the  middle 
partition  out  of  a  double  plate-holder  so  that  when  a  negative  is 
placed  in  the  plate-holder  it  will  be  held  by  the  edges  only.  Remove 
the  ground  glass  from  the  camera,  place  a  negative  in  the  plate- 
holder  and  place  the  plate-holder  in  the  camera.  Place  a  white 
screen  vertically  in  front  of  the  camera,  and  focus  the  negative  upon 
it  by  racking  the  front  of  the  camera  out  to  the  proper  focus.  To 
make  the  image  upon  the  screen  larger,  move  the  screen  farther  from 
the  camera;  to  make  the  image  smaller,  move  the  screen  nearer  to 
the  camera.  If  the  window  does  not  open  directly  to  the  free  sky, 
a  mirror  may  be  placed  outside  the  window  to  reflect  the  free  sky 
into  the  negative.  The  arrangement  with  mirror  is  shown  in  Fig. 
29.  The  only  light  entering  the  room  is  that  passing  through  the 
negative  and  the  lens. 


59 


50 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


To  make  a  test  exposure,  place  a  piece  of  ruby  glass  in  front  of 
the  lens  and  tack  upon  the  screen  a  strip  of  bromide  paper.  Remove 
the  ruby  glass  from  the  lens  for  one-half  minute  and  cover  one- 
quarter  of  the  strip  of  bromide.  Again  remove  the  ruby  glass  from 
the  lens  for  one-half  minute  and  then  cover  the  second  quarter  of 
the  bromide  strip,  which  now  has  had  one  minute.  Remove  the 
ruby  glass  from  the  lens  for  one  minute  and  cover  the  third  quarter 
of  the  bromide  strip,  which  now  has  had  two  minutes.  Remove 
the  ruby  glass  from  the  lens  for  two  minutes,  giving  the  remaining 


Fig.  29.     Camera  Arranged  for  Daylight  Enlarging 

quarter  of  the  bromide  strip  four  minutes  in  all.  Develop  the  strip, 
and  it  will  tell  which  exposure  is  correct,  or  between  which  two  values 
the  correct  time  will  be  found.  When  this  is  known,  tack  a  full-size 
piece  of  bromide  paper  on  the  screen  and  expose  for  the  determined 
length  of  time,  developing,  fixing,  and  washing  the  resulting  print. 

Lens  caps  fitted  with  ruby  or  orange  glass  may  be  bought  for 
capping  the  lens  while  pinning  the  bromide  paper  to  the  screen  for 
exposure.  The  advantage  of  such  a  colored  glass  cap  is  that  it 
leaves  the  image  visible  upon  the  screen  and  the  bromide  paper 
may  be  correctly  placed.  This  is  of  particular  value  when  only  a 
part  of  the  whole  negative  is  to  be  printed  in  the  enlargement. 


60 


PHOTOGRAPHY  51 

SPECIAL  APPLICATIONS  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Lantern  Slides.  To  tell  a  long  story  in  a  short  way,  the  lantern 
slide  is  a  print  on  glass  instead  of  on  paper.  Lantern-slide  plates 
are  sensitized  usually  with  the  same  chemicals  used  in  bromide 
paper.  They  may  be  printed  by  contact  printing  as  any  developing 
paper  is  printed,  or  may  be  printed  by  lens  printing.  In  either 
case,  they  must  be  handled  by  darkroom  methods,  because  they 
are  as  sensitive  as  the  bromide  paper  and  nearly  as  sensitive  (about 
one-twentieth)  as  the  dry  plates  used  for  negatives. 

The  American  lantern  slide  is  always  of  a  standard  size,  3£  by  4 
inches.  Foreign  slides  sometimes  have  other  dimensions.  Upon 
this  size  of  plate,  the  actual  picture  for  projection  by  the  lantern 
seldom  is  larger  than  2f  by  2f  inches.  Where  the  image  to  be  printed 
upon  the  lantern  slide  is  contained  within  this  space  in  the  negative, 
the  slide  may  be  printed  by  contact,  but  where  the  image  in  the 
negative  is  larger  than  3  by  3  inches,  it  will  be  necessary  to  employ 
the  process  of  lens  printing.  As  the  lantern  slide  is  but  a  bromide 
print  on  glass,  all  of  the  instructions  for  lens  printing  on  paper  apply 
directly  to  the  making  of  a  lens-printed  lantern  slide.  The  lens 
printing  of  the  lantern  slide  will  be  necessarily  "copying  down" 
or  reducing  rather  than  enlarging,  meaning  that  the  screen  upon 
which  the  picture  is  focused  will  be  closer  to  the  lens  and  will  require 
a  longer  draw  for  the  camera  bellows.  If  necessary,  a  box  with 
both  ends  open  may  be  introduced  against  the  window,  holding  the 
negative  against  the  window,  the  back  end  of  the  camera  being 
against  the  other  end  of  the  box,  thus  providing  an  extension  to  the 
length  of  the  total  draw  obtainable  by  the  box  and  the  bellows  to- 
gether. Correction  for  the  thickness  of  the  glass  of  the  lantern- 
slide  plate  must  be  made  to  secure  proper  focus,  but  a  ground  glass 
may  be  focused  upon  and  the  slide  plate  substituted  for  exposure. 

Another  method  of  lens  printing  for  lantern  slides  when  the 
reductions  are  considerable,  is  to  place  the  lantern-slide  plate  in 
the  plate-holder  of  the  camera,  place  the  negative  in  the  window, 
and  focus  the  ground  glass  of  the  camera  upon  it  with  the  lens  end 
of  the  bellows  toward  the  negative,  inserting  the  lantern-slide  plate 
with  the  dark  slide  and  exposing  as  in  a  field  exposure,  thus  actually 
making  a  photograph  of  the  negative. 


01 


52  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Place  a  lantern-slide  mask  upon  the  completed  glass  print,  place 
a  cover  glass  over  it,  and  bind  the  edges  with  lantern-slide  binding 
strip,  and  the  slide  is  finished. 

Stereographs.  These  double  pictures  are  adapted  to  present 
two  slightly  different  images  of  the  same  object  to  the  two  eyes 
when  viewing  the  stereograph,  the  two  images  being  different  in 
just  the  details  wherein  the  two  eyes  of  the  observer  would  see  the 
physical  object  differently  by  reason  of  the  difference  between  the 
viewpoints  of  the  observer's  eyes.  The  two  pictures  of  the  stereo- 
graph are  made  simultaneously  by  a  camera  having  two  lenses  side 
by  side.  A  two-image  negative  thus  is  produced,  a  two-image  print 
is  made  from  it,  and  the  two  images  are  cut  apart  and  pasted  upon 
a  card  for  viewing  through  the  lenses  of  the  stereoscope.  By  reason 
of  the  lens  reversal  of  the  images  in  the  camera,  the  images  of  the 
print  must  be  transposed  before  pasting  upon  the  card.  The  dis- 
tance between  the  lenses  usually  is  about  3^  inches;  between  the  prints 
on  the  stereograph  mount,  about  2f  inches.  This  gives  a  slightly 
exaggerated  perspective,  increasing  the  illusion  of  perspective  and 
solidity  when  the  stereograph  is  viewed  properly.  While  the  paired 
lenses  are  desirable,  stereographs  of  still  objects  or  scenes  may  be 
made  by  an  amateur  by  two  successive  exposures  of  the  same  camera, 
the  camera  being  moved  3  or  4  inches  between  the  two  exposures. 
Use  a  small  lens  stop,  as  great  depth  of  focus  is  desirable  in  a  stereo- 
graph. 

Panoramas.  The  ordinary  photographic  lens  places  upon  the 
ground  glass  an  image  which  includes  about  sixty  degrees  of  the 
horizon.  Wide-angle  lenses  are  lenses  of  short  focus  for  comparatively 
large  plates  and  sometimes  cover  one  hundred  degrees  or  more. 
Negatives  including  more  of  the  horizon  than  any  single  fixed  lens 
can  make  have  been  obtained  by  a  swinging  lens.  A  camera  of  this 
nature  has  a  sensitive  film  held  in  a  semicircle,  and  has  its  lens 
mounted  in  a  swinging  frame  which  gives  an  exposure  of  but  a  nar- 
row vertical  slit  upon  the  film.  As  the  lens  swings,  nearly  one-half 
of  the  horizon  is  impressed  upon  the  film  in  a  continuous  image. 
Another  type  of  panoramic  camera  has  gears  for  revolving  it  upon 
the  tripod  top  and  winds  a  roll  of  film  behind  the  slit  of  a  lens  while 
the  camera  is  revolving.  With  this  camera  an  image  may  be  made 
including  the  entire  horizon. 


62 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


53 


Panoramic  prints  may  be  made  by  the  amateur  by  making 
two  or  more  plate  exposures  and  pasting  the  prints  upon  a  card 
with  the  edges  carefully  trimmed  and  matched.  In  making  such 
exposures  intended  for  panoramic  mounting,  the  vertical  line  of 
matching  should  be  in  mind  when  arranging  the  image  upon  the 
ground  glass.  Only  the  double  lens  should  be  used,  as  the  distor- 
tion of  the  single  lens  will  be  seen  when  the  edges  are  matched  in 
the  finished  picture. 

Telephotography.  Quite  the  opposite  of  panoramic  photog- 
raphy is  telephotography,  which  is  the  art  of  enlarging  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  view  to  fill  the  entire  plate.  The  production  of  a  large 
image  of  a  distant  object  is  the  result  which  telephotography  en- 


Fig.  30.     Glasses  of  a  Telephoto  Lens 

deavors  to  obtain.  This  is  done  directly  in  the  camera  by  adding 
a  third  lens  cell  to  the  double  lens;  a  negative  cell,  having  a  lens 
thinner  in  the  middle  than  at  the  edges,  spreads  the  middle  part  of 
the  image  to  cover  all  of  the  plate.  The  arrangement  of  glasses  in 
such  a  lens  is  shown  in  Fig.  30.  The  third,  or  negative,  lens  is 
mounted  at  the  back  end  of  a  long  lens  tube  and  an  ordinary  double 
lens  is  mounted  at  the  front.  By  the  use  of  the  telephotographic 
lens,  a  bellows  extension  of  12  inches  may  be  sufficient  to  make 
an  image  upon_the  ground  glass  as  large  as  would  be  made  by  a  lens 
of  48  or  (')()  inches  in  focal  length.  The  time  of  exposure,  however, 
is  proportionately  longer,  and  the  enlarged  image  upon  the  ground 
glass  is  proportionately  dim.  Telephotography  is  a  process  for  the 
enlargement  of  the  image  in  the  camera  before  it  is  recorded.  The 
result  does  not  differ  from  an  enlargement  made  from  a  small  por- 
tion of  a  negative  taken  from  the  same  viewpoint,  unless  in  greater 
sharpness  of  detail. 


63 


54  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Orthochromatic  Photography.  White  light  is  made  up  of  a 
mixture  of  colors,  and  colored  objects  are  objects  which  separate 
the  white  light  which  falls  upon  them  and  give  to  the  eye  but  a  part 
of  its  component  colors.  Of  all  the  visible  colors,  the  blue  and  violet 
are  the  most  active  in  affecting  the  photographic  plate.  There  are 
also  invisible  rays,  called  ultra-violet  rays,  accompanying  white  light 
which  are  very  powerful  to  affect  the  sensitive  plate.  With  the  blue 
light  more  powerful  in  action  upon  the  sensitive  plate,  it  is  clear  that 
when  an  exposure  is  made  upon  a  subject  containing  blue,  yellow, 
and  red,  as  a  bouquet  of  flowers,  the  light  from  blue  blossoms  will 
make  a  darker  image  in  the  negative  and,  therefore,  a  lighter  image 
in  the  print  than  light  from  the  red  or  yellow  blossoms.  Thus,  a 
scene  having  colors  will  not  be  reproduced  in  its  proper  light  and 
shadow  values  by  the  ordinary  processes  of  amateur  photography. 
A  rosebush  in  bloom  with  white  roses  will  give  proper  results,  but 
an  adjacent  bush  in  bloom  with  red  roses  will  appear  in  the  photo- 
graph to  have  no  blossoms  at  all,  since  the  bright  red  of  the  blossoms 
is  no  more  effective  upon  the  sensitive  plate  than  the  dull  green  of 
the  rose  leaves,  and  the  roses  may  be  distinguished  upon  the  bush 
only  by  their  shape,  as  green  apples  upon  a  midsummer  tree. 

To  remedy  this  feature  of  the  ordinary  photographic  processes 
and  to  render  photography  suitable  for  colored  objects,  a  plate 
sensitive  to  yellow  and  slightly  sensitive  to  red  is  made,  and  there 
is  made  also  a  colored  screen,  or  "ray  filter"  for  the  lens  which  has 
the  faculty  of  holding  out  a  large  portion  of  the  blue  and  ultra-violet 
rays  and  permitting  all  of  the  yellow  and  red  rays  to  pass.  When 
such  a  plate,  called  an  orthochromatic  plate,  is  exposed  to  a  lens 
image  of  light  which  has  passed  through  a  proper  ray  filter,  the 
blues,  yellows,  and  reds  will  all  have  equal  effect  upon  the  plate, 
and  the  resultant  picture  will  show  the  view,  not  in. colors  at  all, 
but  in  proper  values  of  light  and  shade  regardless  of  color  in  the 
view.  The  objection  to  the  universal  use  of  the  orthochrome  plate 
and  the  ray  filter  is  that  from  three  to  eight  times  the  exposure  is 
required. 

Colored  Photographs.  Any  print  may  be  colored  by  brush  and 
suitable  transparent  dyes.  If  it  is  the  wish  to  reproduce  the  actual 
colors  of  the  scene,  it  is  necessary  that  the  negative  be  made  with 
an  orthochromatic  plate,  or  it  will  be  impossible  to  reproduce  the 


64 


PHOTOGRAPHY  55 

reds,  since  they  will  be  black  in  the  print.  Photography  in  natural 
colors  by  camera  and  development  processes  without  recourse  to 
hand  coloring  is  a  problem  which  has  been  solved  in  several  ways, 
yet  no  solution  is  entirely  satisfactory.  The  most  nearly  satisfactory 
processes  involve  first,  the  separation  of  the  light  of  the  image  into 
two,  three,  or  four  different  colors;  second,  the  photographing  of  the 
separate  colors  by  separate  negatives,  the  negatives  being  uncolored; 
third,  the  making  of  prints,  one  for  each  negative  and  each  print 
of  a  single  color  in  itself  but  of  a  color  different  from  the  other  prints 
of  the  set;  and  fourth,  combining  the  separately  colored  prints  or 
arranging  them  in  a  viewing  device  such  that  all  of  the  prints  may 
be  viewed  at  once.  The  colors,  thus  being  placed  upon  each  other, 
blend  in  the  eye  to  form  all  the  hues  of  the  original  view. 

Tri=Color  Photography.  Pieces  of  orange-red,  green,  and  violet 
glass  are  required,  of  such  size  as  to  cover  the  lens  of  the  camera. 
Tri-color  results  will  largely  depend  upon  the  accuracy  and  purity 
of  the  hue  of  these  colored  ray  filters.  Having  selected  and  focused 
the  scene,  expose  three  orthochromatic  plates,  one  after  another, 
each  of  them  with  one  of  the  colored  glasses  in  front  of  the  lens. 
With  a  set  of  color  filters  used  by  the  author,  the  exposure  required 
is  four  times  normal  with  the  violet  filter,  thirty  times  normal  with 
the  green  filter,  and  five  hundred  times  normal  with  the  orange 
filter.  The  negatives  when  developed  will  all  look  alike.  Make 
three  lantern-slide  plates  and  cover  each  with  a  cover  glass  of  the 
color  through  which  the  negative  of  that  slide  was  made.  In  all 
slides,  white  objects  are  clear  glass;  shadows  are  black.  Brightly 
colored  objects  remembered  in  the  view  will  have  different  half- 
tone values  in  the  three  plates.  A  violet  object  is  lightest  in  the 
violet  plate.  A  blue  object  is  darkest  in  the  orange  plate.  A  green 
object  is  lightest  in  the  green  plate.  A  yellow  object  is  darkest  in 
the  violet  plate.  A  red  object  is  lightest  in  the  orange  plate.  i-The 
three  slides  are  projected  by  three  lanterns  upon  the  same  screen 
and  at  the  same  time,  when  the  colors  will  unite  to  give  all  the  hues 
of  the  original  view.  The  process  is  simple  in  theory,  but  requires 
very  careful  and  accurate  working  to  produce  acceptable  results. 

Autochrome  Plates.  By  the  use  of  these  plates  an  amateur 
may  make  pictures  in  natural  colors  as  simply  as  making  a  negative 
and  paper  print.  Each  exposure  in  the  camera  produces  not  a 


65 


56  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

negative  but  a  glass  positive  print  in  colors,  suitable  for  direct  view 
or  for  lantern  slide  if  of  proper  size.  The  exposure  is  made  through 
a  special  orange  screen,  and  the  time  of  exposure  is  about  one  hun- 
dred times  the  normal  exposure  for  the  same  view  and  lens  stop 
with  ordinary  plate  and  no  ray  filter. 

Autochrome  plates  differ  from  ordinary  plates  by  having  inter- 
posed between  the  sensitive  coating  and  the  glass  a  thin  layer  of 
transparent  microscopical  starch  grains,  dyed  orange-red,  green, 
and  violet,  spread  without  over-lapping,  and  mixed  in  such  propor- 
tion that  the  layer  appears  colorless.  The  sensitive  coating  is  ex- 
tremely thin,  and  made  of  a  very  fine-grained  emulsion.  When  such 
a  plate  is  exposed  in  the  camera,  the  glass  side  toward  the  lens,  the 
light  before  reaching  the  sensitive  coating  passes  through  the  colored 
starch  grains,  which  act  individually  as  minute  color  filters,  each 
one  absorbing  all  colors  but  its  own.  A  microscopical  selection  takes 
place,  and  after  development  there  will  be  found  under  each  grain 
a  corresponding  black  image  of  a  density  proportionate  to  the  amount 
of  color  received  and  transmitted  by  this  particular  grain.  Were 
the  plates  fixed  at  this  stage,  the  picture  when  examined  by  light 
passing  through  the  plate  would  show  only  the  colors  complement- 
ary to  those  of  the  original,  since  the  true  colors  are  masked  by  the 
black  images  they  created  beneath  the  grains.  The  next  step  is  to 
dissolve  the  black  silver  by  an  acid  permanganate  solution;  then 
the  plate  is  exposed  to  white  light  and  re-developed,  blackening  the 
white  silver  left  by  the  permanganate  solution.  The  image  now  is 
reversed.  Each  color  grain  transmits  light  precisely  of  the  same  hue 
and  proportionate  intensity  as  the  light  transmitted  by  the  grain 
when  the  exposure  was  made  in  the  camera,  and  the  view  is  seen  in 
its  natural  colors. 


>•., 
w  . 

ate; 


II 

Si 


MOTOGRAPHY 

Motography,  or  motion  photography,  is  compared  with  fixed  or 
still  photography  at  every  point.  It  is  contrasted  with  fixed  photog- 
raphy in  three  important  phases:  First,  the  product  desired;  second, 
the  methods  of  production  required,  which  involve  the  author  of 
the  film  story  and  the  producer,  with  their  assistants;  and  third, 
the  means  adopted,  which  involves  the  photographer  and  his  special- 
ized photographic  equipment. 

PRODUCT  DESIRED 

Fundamentally,  motography  is  the  art  of  depicting  motion 
by  means  of  photography.  Usually  the  associated  step  of  projec- 
tion is  used  for  viewing  the  motion  depicted  in  the  motion-picture 
film,  but  with  this  the  photographer  of  the  motion  picture  is  hardly 
concerned.  His  picture  when  completed  may  be  viewed  by  pro- 
jection, or  by  direct  vision  in  a  proper  stepping  device,  or  by  close 
and  careful  study  of  the  successive  pictures,  either  alone  or  with 
two  consecutive  pictures  placed  over  each  other  to  reveal  the  differ- 
ences due  to  motion  in  the  subject.  Motion  pictures  may  be  made 
for  scientific  study  or  for  purposes  of  amusement. 

Chronophotography.  In  this  word,  "chrono"  means  "time," 
and  the  object  of  the  art  of  chronophotography  is  to  photograph 
the  condition  of  a  moving  subject  at  successive  times  in  its  move- 
ment. Such  a  process  would  produce  if  possible  a  sharp  photograph 
of  the  subject  at  regular  intervals,  so  that  a  careful  study  of  the 
scries  of  pictures  might  reveal  just  what  changes  had  taken  place 
in  the  short  interval  of  time  between  the  taking  of  two  successive 
pictures.  The  extreme  positions  taken  by  the  subject  and  the  posi- 
tions of  the  subject  at  critical  instants  may  be  observed  in  such  a 
scries  of  pictures,  enabling  a  scientist  to  study  his  subject  in  a  manner 
that  is  hardly  possible  by  any  means  other  than  chronophotography. 

Chronophotographic  machines  have  been  devised  to  make 
pictures  at  a  rate  as  fast  as  five  hundred  pictures  of  the  same  subject 

Copyright,  Hill,  by  American  School  of  Correspondence. 


2  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

in  one  second.  With  a  flying  bird  beating  its  wings  at  the  rate  of 
two  beats  per  second,  such  a  photograph  would  present  two  hundred 
and  fifty  different  positions  of  the  wings  of  the  bird  in  beating  the 
air,  and  certain  of  the  images  would  show  the  extreme  upper,  the 
extreme  lower,  and  the  extreme  outward  positions  of  the  wings, 
as  well  as  showing  the  difference  in  positions  of  the  wings  in  beating 
downward  upon  the  air  and  in  returning  to  the  upper  position. 
These  photographs  should  be  sharp  and  distinct  as  far  as  possible, 
that  even  the  details  of  the  wing  feathers  may  be  studied.  Such  a 
series  of  photographs  should  be  of  value  to  a  student  of  flying  ma- 
chines, but  it  is  not  recorded  that  any  such  good  has  come  of  it. 

In  the  study  of  a  walking  man,  chronophotographic  studies 
have  been  made  by  the  military  department  of  France  and,  as  a 
result  of  those  studies  and  experiments  conducted  in  connection 
with  them,  it  has  been  found  possible  to  increase  the  endurance 
of  infantry  on  march  by  teaching  the  soldiers  an  improved  march- 
ing gait. 

In  chronophotography,  it  is  desired  to  photograph  the  sub- 
ject as  it  is  rather  than  as  the  eye  sees  it,  for  because  of  its  motion 
the  eye  of  the  observer  may  be  deceived  as  to  the  actual  positions 
taken  and  as  to  their  actual  order  of  occurrence.  It  is  the  object 
of  chronophotography  to  reveal  for  the  study  of  the  scientist  that 
which  the  eye  is  unable  to  see. 

Kinephotography.  This  is  an  older  name  for  motography. 
In  this  word,  "kine"  means  "motion,"  and  the  object  of  motography 
is  to  make  a  record  of  the  motion  of  the  subject  in  such  a  manner  that 
by  the  use  of  the  record  the  motion  may  be  reproduced  to  the  eye 
viewing  the  picture. 

In  motography,  it  is  desired  to  photograph  the  subject  as  the 
eye  sees  it  rather  than  to  reveal  it  as  it  is,  and  if  because  of  the  motion 
of  the  subject  the  eye  is  in  any  way  deceived  when  viewing  the  phys- 
ical subject,  then  the  true  artist  motographer  will  produce  such 
a  picture  as  will  also  deceive  the  eye  in  the  same  way  and  to  the 
same  extent  when  viewing  the  motion  picture. 

The  making  of  motion  pictures  is  thus  divided  into  two  classes: 
motion  pictures  for  scientific  study — chronophotography;  and  mo- 
tion pictures  for  amusement — motography — for  motography  is  so 
largely  an  industry  of  amusement  that  its  other  phases  may  be  con- 


70 


MOTOGRAPHY  3 

sidered  as  subordinate.  Chronophotography  will  be  considered 
later  as  a  subordinate  phase  of  motography. 

Subjects.  Primarily  the  proper  subject  for  a  motion  picture 
is  motion,  or  a  subject  containing  motion.  This  is  not  a  limitation, 
however,  for  still  subjects  are  very  forcibly  presented  in  motion 
pictures  when  the  camera  itself  has  movement  so  that  each  of  the 
successive  images  upon  the  film  is  made  from  a  different  viewpoint. 

Subjects  are  classified  in  the  trade  as  travels,  industrials,  cur- 
rent events,  dramas,  comedies,  and  trick  pictures.  Travels,  in- 
dustrials, and  current  events,  are  pictures  in  which  the  motographer 
finds  his  subject  ready  for  his  camera.  It  is  necessary  only  to  choose 
a  viewpoint  for  the  camera,  and  to  choose  an  opportune  moment, 
particularly  for  proper  lighting,  or  if  an  interior  is  involved  it  may 
be  necessary  to  provide  artificial  lighting.  Dramas,  comedies, 
chases,  and  trick  pictures  on  the  other  hand  are  classes  in  which 
the  motographer  must  create  his  subject.  These  form  the  bulk 
of  the  film  industry  and  occupy  the  picture  screens  of  the  motion- 
picture  theaters  almost  exclusively.  These  classes  overlap  each  other, 
while  science  studies  are  a  class  apart.  In  many  instances,  a  film 
picture  might  be  classified  in  either  of  two  or  even  more  classes, 
according  to  one's  own  judgment. 

Travels.  Travels  include  pictures  showing  the  natural  scenery 
of  the  country  as  the  chief  interest  of  the  picture.  The  title  takes 
a  form  indicating  a  journey  or  a  visit  to  a  country  or  place.  The 
film  is  made  up  of  many  scenes,  as  though  the  motographer  were 
enjoying  a  holiday  with  his  camera  and  were  photographing  every- 
thing of  interest  to  him,  particularly  everything  typical  of  the  place 
or  country  in  which  his  visit  is  made,  or  of  the  line  of  travel  over 
which  his  journey  carries  him. 

Industrials.  Industrials  are  in  substance  similar  to  travels, 
the  distinction  being  rather  that  the  one  takes  the  work  of  man  as 
a  subject  and  the  other  takes  the  work  of  nature.  An  industrial 
picture  shows  the  production  of  something  involving  the  industry 
of  man.  Factory  industries  when  made  the  subject  of  motion  pic- 
tures may  include  the  production  in  the  mine,  farm,  or  forest  of  the 
raw  material;  views  of  the  machinery  with  which  the  raw  material 
is  worked  through  its  various  stages  of  manufacture;  views  of  the 
material  itself  in  its  successive  stages  of  manufacture;  and  views  of 


71 


4  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

the  finished  product.  Mining,  farming,  lumbering,  and  shipping, 
when  made  the  subject  of  industrial  motion  pictures,  verge  upon 
the  classification  of  travels.  A  decision  as  to  whether  the  picture 
should  be  classified  as  travel  or  industrial  should  be  based  upon 
the  manner  in  which  the  motographer  has  handled  his  subject. 

Current  Events.  Current  events  are  substantially  news  pic- 
tures. Whether  an  event  of  interest  becomes  a  part  of  a  travel  pic- 
ture, an  industrial  picture,  or  a  current-event  picture  comparable 
to  a  newspaper  illustration,  depends  largely  upon  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  handled.  "A  Visit  to  London"  (travel)  may  properly 
include  views  of  water  sports  on  the  Thame^;  "The  Ice  Industry" 
(industrial)  may  open  with  a  scene  of  skating  on  the  ice  and  close 
with  spectators  consuming  ice-cold  beverages  while  they  watch  a 
tennis  game;  a  professional  ball  game  or  a  prize-fight  seems  "indus- 
trial" within  itself;  "The  Funeral  of  King  Edward  VII.,"  a  splendid 
and  impressive  film,  is  properly  classified  as  a  news  picture  (current 
events). 

Dramas.  Dramas  are  pictures  which  have  a  story  to  tell.  They 
are  comprised  of  a  series  of  connected  incidents  which  tell  the  story 
step-by-step — as  a  staged  production  in  pantomime— yet  do  not 
contain  the  element  of  levity  or  burlesque  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
render  the  film  classifiable  as  a  comedy.  The  main  object  of  the 
drama  is  to  tell  a  story  in  a  pleasing  manner  and  in  such  a  way  that 
the  story  forms  the  fundamental  feature  of  the  entertainment,  and 
not  the  actors,  nor  the  stage  setting,  nor  the  separate  incidents. 

Comedies.  Comedies  are  pictures  which  are  designed  to  tell 
a  story  with  the  sole  intent  of  creating  laughter.  When  in  the  nature 
of  drama,  the  plot  and  its  execution  by  the  actors  is  light  or  bur- 
lesque in  nature.  Pictured  jokes,  pictured  puns,  pictured  accidents 
with  ludicrous  results,  awkwardness  and  confusion  on  the  part  of 
the  actors,  all  furnish  subject  matter  for  this  class  of  film  pictures. 

Chases.  Chases  are  a  division  of  the  comedy  class,  in  which 
the  stoiy  involves  the  pursuit  of  some  of  the  actors  by  others.  A 
long  series  of  ludicrous  incidents  may  be  strung  together  in  a  film, 
depicting  the  efforts  of  the  pursued  to  evade  his  pursuers  and  the 
tribulations  of  the  pursuers,  ending  the  film  either  with  or  without 
a  capture. 

Trick  Pictures.     Trick  pictures  are  based  upon  the  ability  of 


72 


MOTOGRAPHY  5 

the  motographer  to  deceive  the  audience  with  film  pictures  produced 
by  special  manipulation  of  the  motion-picture  camera.  Trick  pic- 
tures usually  are  comedies  in  that  the  trick-picture  art  usually  is 
used  to  produce  laughter.  Under  this  class,  however,  come  pictures 
of  transformations  forming  parts  of  more  serious  dramas,  and  some 
trick  pictures  themselves  are  wonders  of  illusion  so  profound  that 
they  have  a  charm  of  their  own  and  offer  a  class  of  entertainment 
neither  drama,  nor  comedy,  nor  chase,  and  classifiable  only  as 
"trick"  or  "spectacular." 

METHODS  OF  PRODUCTION 

Early  Methods.  Drawn  Pictures.  Motion  pictures  are  almost 
as  old  as  pictures,  but  until  the  advent  of  photography  the  motion 
picture  was  nothing  but  a  scientific  curiosity  or  a  toy.  The  oldest 
motion-picture  device  of  which  we 
find  record  is  the  zoetrope,  Fig.  1,  a 
whirling  device  having  a  number  of 
slits  in  a  cylinder,  and  opposite  each 
slit  a  picture.  As  the  cylinder  whirls, 
the  pictures  are  seen  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, and  the  whirling  may  be  so 
rapid  that  the  pictures  seem  all  piled 
upon  each  other.  When  the  device 
is  turned  at  proper  speed,  persistence 
of  vision  holds  one  picture  until  the 
next  is  seen.  By  drawing  the  pic- 
tures by  hand,  taking  care  to  simulate  successive  positions  of  an 
object,  the  object  will  seem  to  have  motion  when  the  device  is 
whirled  and  the  pictures  are  seen  successively. 

Since  the  advent  of  the  first  picture-viewing  device  and  before 
the  advent  of  photography,  a  large  number  of  designs  of  viewing  or 
even  of  projecting  apparatus  for  motion  pictures  had  been  pro- 
duced, but  no  devices  for  making  the  pictures  to  be  viewed.  The 
making  of  the  many  pictures  by  hand  was  a  well  nigh  impossible 
task.  In  such  a  series,  the  fixed  objects  must  be  exactly  alike  in 
all  of  the  pictures  of  the  series  or  there  will  seem  to  be  motion  in 
the  fixed  things  of  the  picture.  The  moving  objects  must  be  similar 


Fig. 


The  Zoetrope 


73 


6  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

in  all  details  and  must  vary  in  position  only,  and  the  variation  in 
position  must  be  in  harmony  throughout  all  the  moving  objects  of 
the  scene.  A  compromise  was  effected  by  one  progressive  experi- 
menter, who  projected  his  fixed  objects  from  a  fixed  lantern  slide 
and  projected  upon  that  fixed  scene  his  carefully  drawn  moving 
images.  In  this  way  he  simulated  the  entrances,  gestures,  and  exits 
of  actors  upon  a  stage  setting,  and  in  the  light  of  more  modern  his- 
tory it  is  but  reasonable  to  think  that  perhaps  he  supplied  also  spoken 
words  for  the  actors,  thereby  anticipating  in  a  measure  the  modern 
"talking  pictures." 

Photographic  Process.  With  the  discovery  of  photography 
came  the  realization  that  here  was  a  new  agent  for  the  production 
of  pictures'  for  the  moving-picture  exhibiting  apparatus.  The  diffi- 
culty to  be  met  was  in  photographing  moving  scenes  with  photo- 
graphs taken  in  such  quick  succession  that  the  movement  between 
two  successive  images  would  be  so  small  that  the  two  images  would 
seem  to  blend  into  one  as  the  hand-drawn  pictures  of  the  zoetrope 
did  when  the  new  photographs  were  substituted  for  the  old  hand- 
drawn  images. 

Separate  Cameras.  The  first  solution  was  by  Muybridge  who, 
in  1877,  arranged  a  row  of  twenty-four  cameras  with  string-trigger 
shutters,  the  string  of  each  shutter  being  stretched  across  a  race 
track.  A  horse  rapidly  driven  down  this  race  track  broke  the  strings 
and  released  the  shutters  as  the  horse  was  opposite  each  camera, 
thus  taking  a  series  of  pictures  within  a  very  short  period  of  time. 
When  these  plates  had  been  developed  and  compared  and  matched 
up,  it  was  found  that  a  set  of  them  could  be  arranged  to  show  the 
successive  positions  of  the  running  horse.  This  set  comprising 
only  a  limited  number  of  images  was  suitable  to  be  shown  in  any  of 
the  motion-picture  viewing  devices  then  known. 

Multiple  Camera.  The  next  solution  was  that  of  LePrince, 
about  ten  years  later,  who  arranged  a  multiple  camera.  This,  in 
substance,  was  a  battery  of  sixteen  automatically  reloading  cameras, 
using  strip  film.  Each  camera  would  make  one  picture  and  while 
the  remaining  fifteen  cameras  were  making  fifteen  more  pictures 
in  regular  sequence,  the  first  camera  would  automatically  bring  a 
fresh  film  into  position  to  make  the  seventeenth  picture  in  its  turn, 
and  so  repeatedly  the  sixteen  cameras  would  operate  to  make  a  con- 


74 


Ml 


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iP 

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MOTOGRAPHY  7 

tinuous  series  of  photographs.  This  LePrince  camera  was  the 
immediate  ancestor  of  the  modern  motion-picture  camera,  being 
built  in  a  single  case  with  battery  of  sixteen  lenses  and  sixteen  shut- 
ters, all  operated  by  a  single  continuously  turned  crank.  The  pic- 
tures were  taken  upon  four  strips  of  film.  By  printing  four  positive 
strips  and  passing  them  through  the  same  battery  of  lenses  and 
shutters,  projection  could  be  accomplished,  or  the  pictures  could 
be  cut  apart  and  pasted  into  a  single  strip  such  as  is  used  in  a  modern 
projecting  machine. 

Modern  Methods.  The  features  of  the  modern  motion  picture 
which  are  improvements  upon  the  earlier  forms  and  which  render 
it  adaptable  for  its  present  amusement  purposes  are  the  production 
of  the  images  by  photography;  the  flexible  negative  film  which  per- 
mits a  large  number  of  pictures  to  be  taken  quickly  in  succession 
upon  a  single  strip  of  negative  record;  the  transparent  support  for 
the  positive  print  or  positive  film,  permitting  the  picture  to  be  pro- 
jected in  an  enlarged  scale  upon  a  screen  so  that  it  may  be  viewed 
by  large  audiences;  and  the  system  of  registering  holes  in  the  margin 
of  the  films  by  which  registry  or  alignment  of  the  numerous  pictures 
of  the  series  is  attained  in  the  projecting  machine. 

Motion  pictures  were  fully  reduced  to  a  commercial  entertain- 
ment means  when  it  was  possible  to  take  a  motion  camera  and  a  reel 
of  negative  film,  to  select  a  subject  and  expose  the  film  upon  the 
subject,  to  print  the  negative  upon  a  strip  of  positive  film  and  pro- 
duce a  positive  print,  and  to  project  that  print  upon  a  picture  screen 
to  be  viewed  by  an  audience.  They  were  well  received  by  the  pub- 
lic from  the  beginning,  and  the  industry  grew  rapidly  from  the  first. 

In  the  beginning  it  was  sufficient  to  photograph  anything  with 
movement,  and  the  wonder  of  the  projected  picture  was  sufficient  to 
hold  the  attention  of  the  audience.  A  railway  train  passing,  a  fire 
engine,  a  waterfall,  or  the  view  from  the  car  window  was  sufficient. 
The  subjects,  which  were  confined  to  "travel"  and  science  studies, 
and  occasional  comedies,  were  enthusiastically  received  by  the  public. 
Dramas  were  not  known. 

With  the  advent  of  the  exclusively  motion-picture  theater,  the 
demand  for  drama  and  comedy  grew.  It  became  necessary  for 
motion-picture  manufacturers  to  acquire  studios  suitable  for  stag- 
ing drama  and  comedy,  to  employ  writers  to  furnish  themes  for 


75 


8  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

motion-picture  plays,  to  employ  actors  and  stage  directors  to  present 
the  themes  properly  before  the  motion  camera,  and  to  employ  scene 
painters  and  property  men  in  a  manner  very  similar  to  the  opera- 
tion of  a  standard  theater  except  that  the  seating  capacity  is  absent 
and  the  play  is  produced  but  once  in  the  studio. 

Division  of  Labor.  When  an  industry  has  reached  such  a  mag- 
nitude that  many  people  are  employed  in  its  work — Pathe"  Freres 
have  more  than  five  thousand  employes  in  France — some  employes 
will  develop  greater  ability  in  some  lines  than  in  others,  and  the 
lines  of  activity  become  so  divergent  that  they  are  best  cared  for 
separately.  As  in  any  manufacturing  industry,  the  manufacture 
of  motion-picture  films  for  exhibition  in  a  modern  factory  has  its 
division  of  labor,  and  a  film  picture  is  the  joint  product  of  the  various 
departments  and  specialists  who  in  turn  take  it  and  perfect  it  with 
their  skill.  Four  widely  different  classes  of  ability  are  involved, 
represented  by  four  men,  the  author,  the  producer,  the  salesman, 
and  the  photographer,  with  their  assistants. 

The  author's  stint  begins  with  the  conception  of  the  thought 
and  continues  until  the  thought  is  reduced  to  motographable  form. 
The  "producer"  takes  charge  of  the  total  task  at  that  point  and  carries 
the  work  forward  until  the  motographic  scenes  of  the  picture  have 
been  recorded  upon  the  sensitive  film  by  the  photographer.  The 
photographer's  duty  comprises  the  carrying  of  the  camera  to  the 
producer's  scenes  wherever  they  may  be,  recording  the  scenes  photo- 
graphically, developing  the  negatives,  and  printing  as  many  finished 
pictures  as  the  salesman  may  require.  The  salesman  most  likely 
will  be  called  the  advertising  manager  of  the  film  manufacturing 
company,  but  his  ultimate  duty  is  to  sell  the  film  product  which 
the  author,  producer,  and  photographer  have  worked  together  to 
make. 

THE  AUTHOR 

For  the  production  of  travels  strictly,  as  travels  were  produced 
in  the  early  days,  perhaps  no  author  is  required.  The  modern 
tendency  toward  drama  has  modified  the  custom.  It  is  in  dramas, 
comedies,  chases,  and  trick  pictures  that  the  author  becomes  promi- 
nent, and  as  these  form  the  bulk  of  the  motion-picture  industry  the 
author  is  always  first  to  be  considered.  Much  special  training  is 
necessary  to  become  a  successful  motion-picture  author. 


76 


MOTOGRAPHY  -9 

His  Problems.  Limitations  of  the  Art.  The  limitations  of  the 
producer  must  be  understood  fully  by  the  author.  Few  fiction  writers 
create  a  successful  drama  for  the  histrionic  stage  at  the  first  attempt, 
and  their  failures  are  due  largely  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  limi- 
tations, of  the  technique,  of  the  dramatic  stage.  Much  more  limiting 
are  the  requirements  of  the  motion-picture  producer  with  his  studio 
stage,  and  voiceless  actors. 

Many  ambitious  writers  have  submitted  stories  to  the  film  manu- 
facturers in  the  hope  that  they  might  be  found  suitable  for  produc- 
tion in  motion  pictures,  but  very  few  of  such  stories  are  accept- 
able. The  film  manufacturer  is  still  obliged  to  create  his  own  plots, 
to  write  his  own  stories  and  scenarios,  and  to  employ  persons  who 
have  become  trained  to  authorship  under  the  limitations  exercised 
by  the  producer  and  the  tools  he  has  to  work  with.  Any  limitation 
upon  the  maker  of  the  film  must  of  necessity  be  also  a  limitation 
upon  the  writer  of  the  story  which  is  to  be  told  by  the  film.  One 
limitation  is  the  matter  of  color,  for,  unless  the  story  is  to  be  written 
especially  for  color  production,  no  essential  part  or  feature  of  the 
story  or  action  may  depend  upon  color.  Another  limitation  is  time 
of  action,  with  an  upper  limit  of  twenty  minutes  or  one  reel  of  1,000 
feet  of  film  for  drama,  and  usually  ten  minutes  or  a  half  reel  of  film 
for  comedies  or  trick  pictures.  Other  limitations  are  the  size  of  the 
stage  which  may  be  used,  the  costumes,  stage  settings,  and  stage 
properties,  and  last  and  most  important  of  all  the  necessity  of  con- 
veying thought  by  action,  gesture,  and  facial  expression  rather 
than  by  voice. 

Plot.  The  author  must  deliver  an  acceptable  plot.  The  proper 
plot  for  a  motion  picture  is  one  suitable  for  a  short  story  of  one 
thousand  words  in  the  current  magazines  rather  than  one  suitable 
for  a  popular  novel.  The  complete  action  must  occur  in  twenty 
minutes,  and  this  compels  the  story  to  be  told  as  a  short  story,  no 
matter  how  much  there  is  to  tell.  The  masterpieces  of  motion- 
picture  drama  consist  of  simple  stories,  simply  told.  The  rule  carries 
into  comedy,  trick,  travel,  and  industrial  pictures.  A  central  thought 
forms  the  foundation  of  the  story;  this  is  embodied  in  a  series  of  in- 
cidents involving  as  few  leading  characters  as  possible,  for  it  is  con- 
fusing to  the  audience  to  be  obliged  to  carry  too  many  characters 
in  mind.  An  unnecessary  character  only  confuses  the  spectator 


77 


10  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

and  leads  the  attention  away  from  the  principal  characters  and  from 
the  central  thought  which  they  are  to  give.  The  series  of  incidents 
should  require  as  few  stage  settings  as  possible,  for  the  same  reason 
that  multiplicity  leads  to  confusion  and  confusion  is  undesirable. 
The  time  is  short,  twenty  minutes,  and  the  real  story  of  the  play 
must  be  told  fully  and  plainly,  not  smothered  with  unnecessary  scenes 
or  incidents  nor  obscured  with  side  thoughts.  Lubin's  "Woman 
Hater"  offers  a  twenty-minute  picture  of  a  thousand  feet  of  film 
staged  with  a  single  stage  setting  and  only  four  characters,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  masterpieces.  Essanay's  "Justified"  does  the  same  with 
only  three  characters  and  a  couple  of  supes. 

The  plot  is  brief.  It  is  only  the  central  idea,  the  skeleton,  the 
foundation.  The  title  is  not  the  least  in  importance,  for  it  is  the  part 
which  is  advertised  outside  the  theater  and  the  detail  upon  which 
dependence  is  placed  to  draw  the  patrons  from  the  sidewalk  past 
the  ticket  window  into  the  house.  When  a  striking  title  is  created 
in  the  author's  mind,  the  plot  is  half  written. 

Scenario.  The  scenario  elaborates  the  plot  into  "dramatized" 
form,  for  the  motion-picture  play  should  be  written  as  if  for  the 
stage,  not  in  "fiction"  form  as  for  a  magazine  article.  In  the  scenario, 
the  characters  are  listed,  the  required  scenic  settings  are  listed,  and 
the  action  scene  by  scene  is  recited.  "Titles"  are  given  in  the  order 
in  which  they  are  met  from  scene  to  scene.  Under  the  name  of 
"titles"  are  included  notes  written,  .newspaper  pages,  or  any  matter 
which  the  audience  inust  read  in  the  progress  of  the  picture. 

SPECIMEN  DRAMA  SCRIP 

The  following  typical  drama  with  but  four  leading  characters 
was  produced  by  the  American  Biograph  Company.  The  scene 
settings  are  simple,  only  three  scenes  being  set  for  studio,  and  those 
not  requiring  anything  unusual  in  the  way  of  scenery.  The  out- 
side scenes  are  such  as  may  be  found  in  any  village.  That  one  scene 
setting  is  used  sevesal  times  and  the  total  number  of  scenes  thus 
increased  is  not  objectionable.  The  plot  will  withstand  success- 
fully a  rigid  analysis.  The  drama  is  divisible  into  four  chapters, 
as  the  four  acts  in  a  staged  play,  each  chapter  having  a  definite  part 
in  the  progress  of  the  telling  of  the  story.  No  scenes  of  crime  or 
violence  are  involved,  and  no  scenes  of  a  nature  to  depress  the  spirits. 


78 


MOTOGRAPHY  11 

TITLE 
A  Midnight  Cupid 

PLOT 

A  tramp  wanders  into  a  club  man's  rooms  and  falls  asleep.  Club  man, 
bored  with  society,  finds  tramp  and  finds  in  tramp's  pocket  letter  asking  tramp 
to  return  home.  Club  man  for  diversion  assumes  tramp's  identity  and  goes 
to  his  home.  Falls  in  love  with  tramp's  childhood  playmate.  Tramp  returns 
home.  Club  man,  ousted  in  disgrace,  elopes  with  girl.  Pursued  by  girl's 
father.  Overtaken  in  club  man's  rooms  after  marriage.  Girl's  father  sees 
wealth  and  social  position  of  club  man  and  forgives. 

SCENARIO 

Cast  of  Characters 

Club  man  (C  M) 

Tramp  (T) 

Girl  (G) 

Girl's  Father  (G  F)  as  farmer 

Policeman 

Two  servants  to  club  man 

Guests  at  reception 

First  farmer 

Second  farmer 

Grocer 

Minister 

Lady,  well  dressed,  age  40 

Two  or  three  men,  well  dressed 

Children 

Scene  Sets 

Club  man's  rooms  (Studio) 

Parlor  (Studio) 

Interior  cottage  bedroom  (Studio) 

City  park  (two  sets) 

Outside  village  store 

Outside  village  cottage 

Village  street 

Field 

Synopsis 

CHAPTER  I.  Prologue,  giving  the  conditions  under  which  the  true 
action  of  the  drama  is  to  occur. 

SCENE  1.     City  park,  first  set.     Discovered,  T  reading  letter. 

Title:  "Dear  Joe:  As  the  father  of  the  girl  who  was  your  childhood's 
sweetheart,  I  ask  you  to  come  back  home.  (Sig.)  Wm.  Broadhurst." 

(Back  to  Scene  1.)  T  reads  letter  sorrowfully,  searches  pockets,  no  money; 
puts  letter  in  upper  outside  coat  pocket  with  edge  visible;  lies  on  bench,  sleeps. 


79 


12  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Enter  policeman,  raps  T  on  foot  with  club,  "Move  on."    Exit  policeman  left. 
Exit  T  right. 

SCENE  2.  CM  room,  well  furnished,  table,  chairs,  sofa;  door  back,  door 
right.  Discovered,  CM  opening  mail.  Bored  look.  Enter  servant,  brings  full 
decanter,  places  on  table;  CM  looks  at  decanter  in  disgust.  CM  signs  to 
servant;  exit  servant  back,  returns  with  coat  and  hat;  CM  dons  and  exits  back. 
Exit  servant  back. 

Title:     "Seeking  Food." 

SCENE  3.  Same  as  Scene  2.  Enter  slowly  T  right.  Calls  (face  business). 
Raps  on  table,  indicates  hunger,  sees  decanter,  makes  great  show  of  resistance 
to  temptation,  drinks  and  falls  asleep  on  sofa. 

SCENE  4.  Parlor.  Discovered,  many  guests.  Enter  CM.  Several  ladies 
overly  attentive  to  CM,  bores  CM  much.  Exit  CM. 

SCENE  5.  Same  as  Scene  3.  Discovered,  T  asleep.  Enter  back  CM  bored. 
Presently  discovers  T,  calls.  Enter  two  servants.  Servants  surprised.  CM 
sees  letter  in  T  pocket,  takes  letter  and  reads. 

Title:    (Repeat  title  showing  letter  in  Scene  1 .) 

(Back  to  Scene  5.)  CM  (face  and  stage  business)  forms  plan  for  a  lark. 
CM  puts  money  in  T  pocket  in  place  of  letter.  Orders  servants.  Exeunt 
servants  right,  carrying  T.  Exit  CM  back. 

SCENE  6.  City  park,  second  set.  Enter  servants  left  carrying  T;  place 
T  on  bench.  Exeunt  servants  left. 

Title:    "The  Club  Man  Plans  to  Take  the  Tramp's  Place." 

SCENE  7.  Same  as  Scene  5.  Enter  CM  back  dressed  as  tramp.  Enter 
servants  right.  CM  explains,  servants  try  to  dissuade  but  fruitlessly.  Exit 
CM  back;  servants  in  despair. 

CHAPTER  II.    The  normal  or  main  action  of  the  drama. 

SCENE  8.  Outside  Village  Store.  Discovered,  grocer  and  first  and  sec- 
ond farmers.  Enter  CM  as  tramp.  Shows  letter  to  grocer.  Grocer  surprised, 
tells  farmers,  farmers  surprised,  all  welcome  CM.  Grocer  indicates  direction, 
CM  exit  right. 

SCENE  9.  Outside  Village  Cottage,  back  yard.  Discovered,  GF  in  chair. 
Enter  from  cottage  G  with  newspaper,  show  of  affection,  G  gives  paper  and 
exit  into  cottage.  Enter  CM  right,  inquires  of  GF,  introduces  self,  GF  refuses 
to  accept  identity,  CM  shows  letter,  GF  accepts  identity  and  welcomes 
CM,  GF  calls,  enter  G  from  cottage,  introduction,  surprise,  welcome,  face 
business  of  admiration  by  CM,  all  exeunt  into  cottage. 

Title:     "Unpleasant  Duty." 

SCENE  10.  Same  as  Scene  9 '.  Enter  from  cottage  GF  with  hoe,  and  CM . 
Exeunt  right. 

SCENE  11.  Field.  Enter  GF  and  CM  left.  GF  hands  hoe,  to  CM  and 
indicates  work  in  field.  CM  takes  off  coat  and  begins  awkwardly,  GF  scolds, 
CM  works  harder,  exit  GF  left. 

Title:     "Pleasant  Duty." 

SCENE  12.  Same  as  Scene  11.  Discovered,  CM  hoeing  in  field.  Busi- 
ness of  weariness,  lights  cigarette,  sits  on  coat.  Enter  G  left.  CM  hides 
cigarette  quickly,  welcomes  G.  G  indicates  leaving  together,  exeunt  together 
left. 

SCENE  13.    Village  Street.    CM  and  G  pass  across  together,  right  to  left. 


MOTOGRAPHY  13 

SCENE  14.  Same  as  Scene  8  with  children  playing  in  extreme  background. 
Discovered,  grocer  and  first  and  second  farmers.  Enter  CM  and  G  right. 
Exeunt  into  store  CM  and  grocer  and  first  farmer.  Second  farmer  proposes 
marriage  to  G,  indicating  his  wealth.  Refused  by  G.  Exit  G  into  store.  En- 
ter from  store  G,  grocer,  first  farmer  and  CM  carrying  packages.  Exeunt  CM 
and  G  right.  Enter  CM  right,  pays  grocer,  exit  CM  right.  Stage  business  in- 
dicating that  CM  is  accepted  and  well  liked. 

SCENE  15.  Same  as  Scene  9.  Discovered,  GF  in  chair.  Enter  CM  and  G 
right,  welcome  by  GF,  exit  G  into  cottage,  exit  CM  right,  stage  business  by 
GF  indicating  that  CM  is  accepted  and  well  liked. 

CHAPTER  III.    The  interfering  action  of  the  drama. 
SCENE    16.    Same  as  Scene  6 .    Discovered,  T  asleep.    T  wakes,  remembers 
letter,  finds  paper  money  in  pocket  instead,  is  surprised,  exit  right  in  glee. 

SCENE  17.  Same  as  Scene  14.  Discovered,  grocer,  first  and  second 
farmers.  Enter  T  right.  Recognizes  grocer,  grocer  denies  T  identity,  exit 
grocer  into  store.  T  recognizes  first  farmer,  first  farmer  denies  T  identity, 
guards  his  watch  and  exit  right.  T  recognizes  second  farmer,  but  second 
farmer  avoids  hand  and  eludes  T,  making  exit  into  store.  T  alone  on  stage, 
face  business  of  wonder  and  surprise.  Exit  T  right. 

SCENE  18.    Same  as  Scene  15.    Discovered,  GF  in  chair.    Enter  T  right, 
recognizes  GF,  GF  denies  T  identity.    T  lip  language  and  gesture,  "I  am  me." 
-    Title:     "The  Tramp  Proves  His  Identity." 

(Back  to  Scene  18.)  T  (stage  business)  tells  of  accident  while  swimming 
and  diving  as  a  boy  and  shows  scar  on  head,  shows  birthmark  on  neck.  GF 
satisfied  with  identification,  calls  to  cottage,  G  enters  from  cottage,  introduc- 
tion, G  surprised.  GF  angry,  calls  off  stage  right,  CM  enters  right,  shows 
agitation  on  seeing  T,  GF  rages,  GF  orders  CM  away,  G  tries  to  follow,  GF 
interferes,  exit  CM  right,  exeunt  G,  GF,  and  T  into  cottage. 

SCENE  19.  Interior  cottage  bedroom,  practical  door  at  back  opening  in- 
ward with  lock  and  key,  practical  window  right.  Enter  G  and  GF,  GF  rages, 
G  cries,  GF  puts  key  in  door  on  outside,  exit  raging  and  closes  door.  G  tries 
door  to  show  it  locked,  sinks  crying  by  bedside. 

CHAPTER  IV.  The  resolution  of  the  plot  and  the  conclusion  of  the 
drama. 

SCENE  20.  Same  as  Scene  13.  Enter  CM  right,  walking  rapidly,  hesi- 
tates, shows  much  money,  laughs,  turns,  exit  right. 

SCENE  21.  Same  as  Scene  19.  Discovered,  G  crying  by  bedside.  Enter 
CM,  head  only  at  window,  calls,  G  responds  slowly,  confusedly,  then  quickly. 
CM  invites  elopement,  G  consents,  gets  wrap,  exit  through  window. 

SCEKE  22.  Same  as  Scene  20.  Discovered,  first  and  second  farmers 
approaching  in  extreme  background.  Enter  CM  and  G  right,  talk,  CM  shows 
and  offers  money  and  by  accident  drops  paper  from  pocket  when  taking  money 
from  pocket,  G  refuses  money,  embraces  CM,  exeunt  G  and  CM  left.  Farmers 
reach  foreground,  converse  excitedly.  First  farmer  exit  right.  Second  farmer 
sees  paper,  reads,  and  exit  right. 

SCENE  23.  Same  as  Scene  18.  Discovered,  GF  in  chair.  Enter  first 
farmer  right,  tells  GF  of  elopement.  GF  exit  to  cottage. 

SCENE  24.  Same  as  Scene  21.  Enter  GF  by  door,  looks  around  room, 
notices  open  window,  stage  business  of  despair  and  rage,  exit  through  door. 


81 


14  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

SCENE  25.    Same  as  Scene  23.    Discovered,  first  farmer.    Enter  GF  from  * 
cottage,  raging.     Enter  second  farmer  with  paper,  shows  paper  to  GF.     GF 
reads.    All  exit  right,  GF  raging. 

Title:    "The  Marriage." 

SCENE  26.  Same  as  Scene  5.  Enter  CM  as  tramp  and  G  back.  CM 
rings;  enter  two  servant*  back;  CM  orders  first  servant;  exit  first  servant; 
CM  orders  second  servant;  exit  second  servant.  Stage  business  of  love  scene. 
Enter  first  servant  and  woman,  stylish,  age  40,  apparently  relative  of  CM, 
introduction  to  G,  enter  two  men  well  dressed.  Enter  second  servant  and 
minister.  CM  explains  to  minister;  produces  paper,  apparently  license  to 
wed,  and  hands  to  minister;  minister  reads,  indicates  readiness,  performs 
marriage  ceremony;  congratulations  by  all.  In  midst  of  confusion,  enter 
GF  raging  and  first  and  second  farmers.  GF  tries  to  seize  G;  G  clings  to  CM; 
servants  and  guests  interfere;  CM  tells  GF  they  are  married;  G  tells  GF  they 
are  married;  minister  tells  GF  they  are  married;  GF  in  despair  and  rage, 
farmers  in  despair. 

Title:     "Convinced  of  Son-In-Law's  Wealth,  Father  Forgives." 

(Back  to  Scene  26  with  minister  talking  to  GF.)  Minister  explains  to  GF 
that  CM  owns  the  house.  GF  surprised,  asks  servants,  who  answer  yes;  asks 
men,  asks  woman,  asks  CM;  all  answer  yes.  Still  hesitates,  gesture  of  appeal 
from  G,  GF  takes  G  and  CM  in  arms  and  dances.  All  joyous.  (End  of  picture.) 

SPECIMEN  COMEDY 

The  requirement  of  a  comedy  is  that  there  be  a  laugh  at  the 
close,  and  as  many  before  that  as  possible.  In  a  comedy  which  is 
neither  chase  nor  trick,  the  plot  should  show  the  successive  steps  of 
story  telling:  first,  the  prologue  setting  forth  the  conditions  under 
which  the  action  of  the  story  is  to  occur;  second,  the  action  of  the 
story,  which  may  be  in  several  parts;  and  last  the  resolution  and 
conclusion. 

TITLE 
The  Old  Maid's  Dream 

PLOT 

Comical  spinster  falls  asleep  on  park  bench;  nearby  sits  man  accompan- 
ied by  large  dog.  Spinster  dreams  she  is  being  kissed.  Wakes  and  finds  dog 
licking  her  face. 

SCENARIO 

Cast  of   Characters 

Spinster,  burlesque  in  manner  and  attire 

Man,  portly  and  dignified 

Dog,  large  and  shaggy  preferred 

Parlor  Maid 

Several  well  dressed  young  men 


MOTOGRAPHY  15 

Scene  Sets 

Park  with  two  adjacent  seats 
Parlor 

Synopsis 

CHAPTER  I.     Prologue. 

SCENE  1.  Park  with  two  adjacent  seats.  Enter  spinster  right,  takes 
nearest  seat.  Enter  man  and  dog  left,  man  takes  remaining  seat,  spinster 
much  disgusted.  Man  falls  asleep.  Spinster  glowers  and  fusses  but  sticks 
to  the  seat  and  finally  shows  drowsiness. 

Title:     "The  Dream." 

SCENE  2.  Parlor.  Discovered,  spinster  reading  letter  and  smiling 
much.  Enter  parlor  maid,  announces  caller,  exit  and  return  with  first  young 
man.  Exit  parlor  maid.  Welcome  of  man  by  spinster,  man  begins  to  kiss 
spinster.  Enter  second  young  man  unannounced,  surprise  and  confusion  of 
all;  exit  first  young  man  hastily  in  confusion.  Business  of  love-making  by- 
second  young  man  and  spinster,  young  man  begins  to  kiss  spinster.  Enter 
two  more  young  men  unannounced,  surprise  and  confusion.  Enter  more 
young  men,  all  give  excess  attention  to  spinster,  then  begin  talking  among 
themselves  as  if  quarreling  about  spinster;  meanwhile  one  young  man  is  aside 
with  spinster  and  begins  kissing  excessively. 

Title:    "The  Reality." 

SCENE  3.  Same  as  Scene  1.  Discovered,  man  on  seat  asleep  and  spin- 
ster on  other  seat  asleep,  dog  licking  spinster's  face.  Spinster  wakes,  horrified, 
l)elabors  dog  with  umbrella  and  then  belabors  man  with  umbrella.  Exit  dog 
and  man,  left. 

Title:     "But  It  Was  a  Lovely  Dream." 

(Back  to  Scene  3.)  Stage  business  of  rage  by  spinster  looking  off  left, 
then  slowly  subsides,  sits  on  seat,  clasps  hands,  smiles  and  looks  upward  in 
attitude  of  blissful  reverie.  (End  of  Picture.) 

The  reviewing  editor  of  a  motion-picture  manufacturing  com- 
pany probably  would  read  as  far  as  "Dog,"  and  reject  the  manu- 
script. Trained  animals  are  almost  an  impossibility  in  motion- 
picture  production.  It  would  be  necessary  to  find  ah  actress  who 
possessed  such  a  dog,  or  an  actor  who  could  make  up  as  a  spinster 
and  who  possessed  a  dog  which  would  lick  its  master's  face.  Aside 
from  this,  there  is  the  method  of  enticing  the  dog  by  food  or  sugar, 
but  this  is  remote  in  probability  of  a  successful  picture. 

SPECIMEN  CHASE  AND  TRICK  SCRIP 

When  trick  pictures  are  written,  the  author  must  keep  his  trick  > 
within  the  possibilities  of  the  art.  In  chases,  the  author's  scenes 
must  be  influenced  by  the  opportunities  of  the  producer.  In  the 
following  "scrip" — as  the  written  story  of  a  picture  before  produc- 


16  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

tion  is  called — the  title,  plot,  and  scenario  are  given,  and  these 
should  be  followed  by  a  set  of  trick  notes  by  the  author  explaining 
for  the  benefit  of  the  producer  how  the  various  trick  scenes  shall 
be  or  may  be  produced. 

TITLE 
High  Jumping  Johnnie 

PLOT 

Johnnie  is  an  acrobat  out  of  a  job.  Hungry,  he  buys  a  sandwich  but  has 
no  money  to  pay.  The  sandwich  man  chases  him.  He  runs  into  an  apple  cart, 
upsets  it,  and  the  apple  man  chases.  Upsets  stand  of  newsdealer,  who  joins 
chase.  Upsets  baby  carriage,  nurse  joins  chase.  Collides  with  policeman, 
who  joins  chase.  The  chase  now  being  on,  Johnnie  easily  vaults  a  wall,  which 
the  others  require  ladders  to  climb.  In  a  barn-yard,  hay-loft  door  of  barn  is 
8  feet  from  ground.  Johnnie  vaults  in  easily;  others  try,  but  must  enter  by 
door;  when  all  are  in,  Johnnie  jumps  out  of  loft  door  and  flees  down  a  coun- 
try road  toward  a  bridge.  Johnnie  jumps  from  bridge  into  water;  pursuers 
follow;  Johnnie  jumps  back  from  water  onto  bridge;  pursuers  must  climb 
'out  over  the  bank.  In  hot  pursuit  down  country  road,  Johnnie  jumps  sheer 
to  the  sky  and  catches  a  passing  airship,  making  final  getaway.  (See  trick 
notes;  practical  airship  not  required.) 

SCENARIO 
Cast  of  Characters 

High-Jumping  Johnnie,  an  acrobat,  must  jump  well,  swim  well,  and  have 

experience  on  the  horizontal  bar 
Double  for  Johnnie,  or  dummy  substitute 
Men,  first  and  second 
Aviator,  and  assistants 
Pursuers,  including  policeman,  nurse,  men,  etc. 

Scene  Sets 

Circus  tent  entrance  or  exterior  (Studio) 

Another  circus  tent  with  entrance  and  sign  (Studio) 

Cloud  canvas  on  rollers.    (See  trick  notes  J  and  L) 

Bedroom   (Studio) 

Office  building  entrance,  with  sign 

City  street  scenes 

Country   scenes 

Bridge  and  water  scene 

Property  List 

SCENE  1.     Bed,    table,    chairs,    washstand,    mirror,    comb,    washbowl, 

water  pitcher,  towel,  dumb-bells,  Indian  clubs,  circus  bill. 
SCENE  2.     Sign,  packing  box. 
SCENE  4.     Sign. 


84 


MOTOGRAPHY  17 

SCENE  5.  Park  seat,  sandwich  wagon  with  sandwich  material  com- 
plete, white  apron  and  cap  and  large  fork  for  sandwich  man. 

SCENE  6.     Apple  cart  and  apples. 

SCENE  7.  Trestles  and  boards  to  be  knocked  off;  newspapers  and 
magazines. 

SCENE  8.     Baby  carriage;  dummy  baby;  stripe  uniform  for  nurse. 

SCENE  9.     Uniforms  for  two  policemen. 

SCENE  10.  Trestle  for  jump  from  fence;  two  or  three  ladders,  say 
six-foot,  eight-foot  and  ten-foot,  one  each. 

SCENE  14.  Dummy  for  Johnnie  if  double  is  not  available;  duplicate 
costume  for  double  if  double  is  available. 

SCENE  17.     Airship.     (See  trick  notes.) 

SCENE  18.     Horizontal   bar. 

Synopsis 

CHAPTER  I.       Prologue. 

SCENE  1.  Bedroom,  poorly  furnished;  dumb-bells  and  Indian  clubs  on 
floor;  circus  bill  announcing  "High-Jumping  Johnnie"  on  wall.  Discovered, 
Johnnie  washing  face.  Takes  short  turn  with  clubs  or  dumb-bells,  dresses  for 
street,  stage  business  toward  circus  bill  on  wall,  looks  at  watch,  exit  through 
door. 

Title:    "Loses  His  Job." 

SCENE  2.  Exterior  of  circus  tent  entrance.  Sign  on  tent,  "Closed  by 
Sheriff."  Discovered,  first  man  sitting  on  packing  box  near  tent  wall,  head 
in  hands.  Enter  Johnnie,  sees  sign,  consternation  at  sign,  taps  man  on  shoul- 
der, asks  about  sign,  man  shakes  head.  Johnnie  indicates  pocket  and  stage 
business  of  asking  whether  anybody  gets  any  pay;  man  shakes  head.  Man 
assumes  disconsolate  pose  again.  Exit  Johnnie,  doleful. 

SCENE  3.  Another  circus  tent  entrance.  Enter  Johnnie  at  one  side,  exit 
into  tent;  enter  from  tent  Johnnie  and  second  man;  Johnnie  is  asking  for 
employment,  stage  business  of  showing  that  he  is  an  acrobat;  man  shakes 
head  always  indicating  no  work  for  Johnnie.  Exit  man  into  tent.  Exit 
Johnnie  one  side  after  stage  business  of  disappointment  and  hunger. 

SCENE  4.  Office  building  entrance.  Sign  at  door  reads,  "Theater  Agency. 
Vaudeville  Acts  Wanted."  Enter  Johnnie  one  side,  sees  sign,  business  of  joy, 
exit  into  office  building  entrance;  business  of  passers-by;  enter  Johnnie  from 
office  building  entrance,  sorrowfully.  No  work.  Exit  one'  side  after  stage 
business  of  hunger. 

CHAPTER  II.     The  Chase,  in  the  city. 

SCENE  5.  Edge  of  park;  park  seat  left;  red-hot  sandwich  man  and  cart 
at  curb  at  right;  camera  set  to  panoram  from  seat  to  sandwich  cart.  Enter 
Johnnie,  left,  disconsolate.  Hunger,  despondency.  Looks  off  stage  right,  be- 
comes thoughtful,  rises  and  walks  toward  right.  (Panoram  camera  to  follow 
actor.)  Stops  at  sandwich  cart,  talks  with  man,  orders  sandwich;  man  makes 
sandwich  and  hands  to  Johnnie;  Johnnie  takes  bite;  man  asks  for  pay;  Johnnie 
explains;  man  angry;  Johnnie  continues  explaining;  man  threatens;  Johnnie 
runs  with  sandwich;  man  follows  with  apron,  cap,  and  fork;  exit  around 
convenient  street  corner. 

SCENE  6.     City  street.     Discovered,  apple  man  and  cart.    Enter  Johnnie 


85 


18  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

running,  collides  with  cart  and  falls,  but  holds  on  to  sandwich;  scatters  apples 
in  street.  Johnnie  recovers  feet,  picks  up  an  apple,  puts  apple  in  one  pocket 
and  sandwich  in  another  and  runs  off  stage.  Enter  sandwich  man;  exit  sand- 
wich man  and  apple  man  pursuing  Johnnie. 

SCENE  7.  City  street  corner.  News  stand  and  attendant.  Enter  Johnnie 
running,  collides  with  news  display,  upsetting  it  but  keeps  on  running.  Enter 
pursuers,  business  with  newsdealer,  who  joins  chase.  Exeunt,  running. 

SCENE  8.  Residence  street  scene.  Enter  nurse  with  baby  in  carriage. 
Enter  Johnnie  running,  collides  with  carriage,  overturns  carriage  but  keeps 
on  running.  Enter  pursuers.  Exeunt  pursuers  running,  including  nurse, 
baby,  and  carriage. 

SCENE  9.  Street  corner  in  residence  district.  Enter  left  up  one  street 
two  policemen.  Enter  right  up  other  street  Johnnie  running.  At  corner, 
Johnnie  collides  with  policemen.  Exit  Johnnie,  running,  left.  Enter  right 
pursuers  running  after  Johnnie,  talk  with  policemen,  exeunt  all  running  left. 

SCENE  10.  City  or  suburban  scene  with  wall  8  feet  high.  Enter  Johnnie, 
makes  running  jump  sheer  to  top  of  wall  (Trick  Note  A)  and  down  on  opposite 
side.  Enter  pursuers.  Run  to  wall,  attempt  to  climb  but  all  fail.  Exeunt 
two  or  three  and  enter  again  with  short  ladders,  all  scale  wall  and  vanish  on 
other  side. 

CHAPTER  III.     The  Chase,  in  the  country. 

SCENE  11.  Country  with  fence  and  gate.  Discovered,  Johnnie  in  back- 
ground, running  toward  camera,  clears  fence  by  leaping  from  earth  to  top 
of  fence  and  again  to  earth  (Trick  Note  B),  runs  toward  camera,  and  exit. 
Enter  pursuers  who  at  first  try  to  climb  fence  but  discover  gate  and  open  it, 
passing  through  gate  and  toward  camera  and  exeunt  in  pursuit. 

SCENE  12.  A  steep  earth  bank  5  feet  high.  (Note  C.)  Enter  Johnnie 
on  top  of  bank,  leaps  to  bottom;  enter  pursuers,  following  and  coming  down 
bank;  exit  Johnnie  on  lower  level;  exeunt  pursuers  following. 

SCENE  13.  Similar  to  Scene  11,  adjacent  part  of  same  bank.  Enter 
Johnnie  on  lower  level,  leaps  to  higher  level  (Trick  Note  D)  and  keeps  on 
running.  Exit  Johnnie.  Enter  pursuers,  lose  much  time  in  climbing  to  higher 
level.  Exeunt. 

SCENE  14.  A  barnyard  and  barn,  with  doors  at  ground  level  and  loft 
door  about  8  feet  above  ground  level.  Enter  Johnnie  and  leaps  into  open  loft 
door  (Trick  Note  E).  Enter  pursuers  and  try  to  make  loft  door  but  fail. 
Johnnie  takes  sandwich  from  pocket  and  takes  a  bite,  sandwich  man  rages. 
All  pursuers  take  lower  door  to  barn.  When  all  are  in,  Johnnie  jumps  from 
loft  door  and  exit;  pursuers  appear  in  loft  door,  some  falling  through  loft 
door  to  earth  and  others  returning  by  lower  door.  Exeunt.  (Note  F.) 

SCENE  15.  A  country  road  with  bridge  in  middle  distance.  Enter  from 
foreground  Johnnie  and  pursuers  very  close  behind,  all  running  toward  bridge. 

SCENE  16.  Near  the  bridge  of  Scene  14.  Bridge  is  at  left;  the  foreground 
is  water  under  and  near  the  bridge;  in  the  middle  ground  is  the  distant  bank  of 
the  river.  Enter  Johnnie,  left,  on  bridge,  closely  pursued.  Johnnie  jumps 
from  bridge  into  water,  pursuers  all  follow.  When  all  are  in  the  water,  Johnnie 
jumps  sheer  from  the  water  to  the  bridge  again  (Trick  Note  G)  and  runs  off 
bridge  left;  pursuers  lose  much  time  climbing  out  of  water  upon  bank  in 
middle  ground  and  exeunt  after  Johnnie. 


86 


MOTOGRAPHY  19 

CHAPTER  IV.     Conclusion. 

Title:     "The  Airship." 

SCENE  17.  Open  country,  with  airship  or  aeroplane  on  ground.  Enter 
aviator  and  assistants,  right;  walk  to  airship;  examine  all  parts  carefully; 
aviator  takes  driver's  seat,  assistants  start  propellers  and  exeunt;  airship 
starts  and  passes  off  stage,  right,  rising.  (Trick  Note  H.) 

SCENE  18.  Country  road.  Enter  Johnnie  and  pursuers,  from  back- 
ground, running  toward  camera.  All  notice  airship  (off  stage)  and  stop  run- 
ning, looking  up.  Johnnie  makes  sheer  leap  to  sky,  from  extreme  foreground, 
off  stage  through  top  of  picture.  (Trick  Note  I.)  Pursuers  run  forward  and 
off  stage, '  always  looking  upward,  showing  amazement  and  chagrin  after 
Johnnie's  leap. 

Title:     "Safety  at  Last." 

SCENE  19.  Airship  in  flight  in  foreground,  clquds  in  background.  (Note 
J.)  Johnnie  enters  through  bottom  of  picture,  extreme  foreground,  :eizes 
airship  and  climbs  aboard.  (Trick  Note  K.) 

SCENE  20.  (Note  L.)  Near  view  of  airship.  Discovered,  Johnnie, 
who  nearly  fills  the  screen.  Takes  sandwich  from  pocket  and  apple  from 
another  and  eats,  with  stage  business  downward  as  if  to  pursuers  on  earth 
below.  (Note  M.) 

SCENE  21.  Country  roadside.  Discovered,  all  pursuers  in  state  of 
collapse,  one  or  two  showing  rage  and  gesticulating  toward  sky  toward  Johnnie 
in  airship.  (End  of  picture.) 

The  average  picture-play  editor  would  read  that  "scrip"  only  so 
far  as  the  first  time  he  saw  the  word  "airship,"  were  it  not  that  the 
mention  of  airship  is  coupled  with  the  memorandum,  "See  Trick 
Note." 

TRICK  NOTES 

Trick  Note  A.  The  leap  to  top  of  wall  and  the  entrance  may  be  made 
in  one  action  with  reversing  camera.  Johnnie  takes  position  on  top  of  wall, 
back  to  camera;  mark  chalk  line  around  both  feet;  start  reversing  camera; 
Johnnie  stoops,  puts  hands  on  top  of  wall,  leaps  backward  to  earth,  easing  leap 
with  hands  on  wall;  then  runs  backward  off  stage  at  entrance  point.  When  re- 
versed in  the  print,  this  enters  Johnnie  and  carries  him  to  the  top  of  the  wall  in  a 
flying  leap.  To  complete  the  scene,  Johnnie  takes  same  position  on  top  of  wall, 
feet  in  chalk  lines,  and  assumes  as  nearly  as  possible  same  attitude;  start  direct 
camera;  signal  pursuers  on;  pursuers  enter  and  Johnnie  leaps  forward  from 
camera  out  of  sight.  A  platform  beyond  the  wall  may  shorten  the  leap,  which 
should  not  have  the  aid  of  hands.  The  two  actions,  reverse  and  then  direct,  com- 
plete the  scene. 

The  leap  to  top  of  wall  and  the  entrance  may  be  made  in  two  actions.  First 
action:  Johnnie  takes  position  on  top  of  wall,  back  to  camera;  mark  chalk  line 
both  feet;  start  reversing  camera;  Johnnie  stoops,  puts  hands  on  top  of  wall  and 
leaps  backward  to  earth,  easing  leap  with  hands  on  wall;  mark  carefully  around 
feet  and  around  hands  i]  hands  touch  earth.  Second  action:  Start  direct  camera 
without  actors;  Johnnie  enters,  runs  to  wall,  and  takes  exact  position  with  feet 
as  marked  in  jump  from  wall,  assuming  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same  attitude 


87 


20  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

as  when  landing  from  the  wall.  Third  action:  The  scene  from  top  of  wall,  with 
direct  camera,  as  before.  The  three  actions,  direct,  then  reverse,  then  direct,  com- 
plete the  scene. 

The  leap  before  the  reversing  camera  should  be  backward,  not  face  toward 
the  camera,  and  the  effect  of  the  hands  upon  the  wall  is  that  at  the  end  of  the  rise 
they  help  Johnnie  to  gain  the  top  with  his  feet  and  acquire  a  momentary  equilib- 
rium there.  The  scene  in  two  actions  is  preferred  if  Johnnie  is  competent  to 
run  backward  realistically.  If  the  three-action  method  is  adopted,  the  change 
from  the  first  entrance  to  the  reversing  action  may  be  made  either  at  the  point  of 
'  leaving  the  ground  for  the  leap,  or  a  few  steps  prior  to  rising. 

Trick  Note  B.  Some  method  as  for  Trick  Note  A.  Mark  with  chalk 
the  position  of  the  feet  upon  the  top  of  the  fence.  With  Johnnie  "jumped"  into 
the  picture,  running  almost  directly  toward  the  camera  and  on  the  distant  side 
of  the  fence,  the  awkwardness  of  running  backward  will  be  obscured  and  less 
running  backward  will  be  required,  so  that  the  two-action  method  should  be 
thoroughly  feasible.  In  the  second  action,  enter  the  pursuers  before  Johnnie 
leaves  the  fence  jumping  down. 

Note  C.  One  side  of  a  railway  cut  ought  to  serve  for  this  scene  set.  A 
water-washed  gulley  or  river  bluff  with  beach  at  bottom  is  suitable. 

Trick  Note  D.  Same  method  as  for  Trick  Note  A.  The  backward  leap 
for  safety's  sake,  should  be  squarely  backward  and  not  diagonally  over  the  bank. 
Use  hands  as  before.  Mark  position  of  feet  as  before.  Two-action  method  pre- 
ferred, and  Johnnie  may  be  "jumped"  into  the  picture  if  desired. 

Trick  Note  E.  Same  method  as  for  Trick  Note  A.  As  it  is  desirable  that 
the  pursuers  shall  enter  as  quickly  after  Johnnie,  the  last  action  of  the  scene  may 
start  with  Johnnie  in  crouching  position  in  loft  door  with  back  to  camera,  the 
pursuers  coming  on  while  he  rises  and  turns  to  face  out  of  the  door. 

Note  F.  Scene  14  may  be  staged  in  a  city  house  if  preferred,  selecting 
a  house  with  high  first  floor,  the  windows  being  about  8  feet  from  the  ground. 
Johnnie  jumps  into  an  open  window,  pursuers  rage  under  window,  then  enter 
house  up  steps  and  through  front  door,  then  Johnnie  jumps  from  window  and  runs. 

Trick  Note  Q.  Scene  16  may  be  made  according  to  any  one  of  three 
methods,  which  may  be  named  the  double  method,  the  dummy  method,  and  the 
repeater  method.  The  first  is  preferred  if  an  actor  for  Johnnie's  double  is  avail- 
able. 

The  "double"  method  is  so  named  because  it  uses  two  actors  who  are  "doubles," 
looking  so  much  alike  or  made  up  so  much  alike  that  the  audience  does  not  dis- 
tinguish them  one  from  the  other.  As  the  substitute  for  Johnnie  appears  for 
but  a  brief  period  and  is  in  active  motion  all  the  time,  the  resemblance  need  not 
be  exceedingly  accurate.  In  producing  Scene  16  direct  and  reversing  cameras 
are  used.  First  action:  Johnnie's  double  enters  left,  on  bridge,  direct  camera 
running,  and  jumps  from  bridge  into  water,  followed  even  before  diving  by  the 
leaders  of  the  pursuers,  who  plunge  after  him.  Second  action:  When  all  pur- 
suers are  in  the  water,  start  reversing  camera.  Pursuers  make  much  splashing 
but  make  no  progress  in  swimming  forward,  but  anyone  skilled  in  swimming 
backward  may  do  so.  Pinter  the  real  Johnnie  walking  or  running  backward, 
entering  left  on  bridge  and  walking  backward  to  the  point  of  diving,  diving  back- 
ward if  he  has  sufficient  skill  in  diving,  a  straight  backward  jump,  striking  the 
water  feet  first  being  preferred.  Third  action:  Start  direct  camera.  Pursuers  may 


MOTOGRAPHY  21 

swim  forward  now  and  climb  out  upon  bank  opposite  camera,  thence  running 
across  bridge  and  exeunt  left.  The  actions  are  used  in  the  scene  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  taken.  In  the  last  action  Johnnie  must  not  be  seen,  even  though 
the  camera  must  be  stopped  to  get  him  out  of  the  picture. 

The  "dummy"  method  requires  a  weighted  dummy  resembling  Johnnie. 
In  the  first  action,  the  real  Johnnie  runs  on  left  and  crouches  upon  the  edge  of 
the  bridge,  simulating  a  leap  as  nearly  as  possible,  but  does  not  go  into  the  water. 
The  camera  is  stopped,  a  dummy  is  substituted,  held  by  a  string  running  off  stage; 
start  the  camera,  release  dummy  by  the  string  and  order  pursuers  on.  The  dummy 
is  weighted  to  sink  when  it  strikes  the  water.  Second  and  third  actions  as  before. 
Poorest  of  the  three  methods. 

The  "repeater"  method  requires  Johnnie  to  dive  twice  and  uses  a  dummy 
as  well,  but  the  dummy  merely  makes  a  splash  and  does  not  appear  in  the  picture, 
so  a  weighted  bag  is  sufficient.  The  first  action  is  in  two  parts.  Johnnie  runs 
on  left  and  dives  from  bridge;  stop  camera;  Johnnie  comes  from  water;  dummy 
is  fixed  to  bridge  to  be  released  to  make  splash  by  pull  of  string  running  off  stage. 
Start  direct  camera,  release  dummy  weight  for  splash,  order  pursuers  on  as  water 
splashes.  Second  and  third  actions  as  before,  the  second  action  being  all  the  better 
because  Johnnie's  clothes  show  wet. 

Trick  Note  H.  Scene  made  in  two  actions,  the  second  action  being  with 
reversing  camera.  Build  a  dummy  aeroplane  after  the  Wright  biplane  model, 
an  easy  type  to  copy  in  dummy.  Arrange  it  to  slide  backward  to  earth  on  a 
pair  or  more  of  inclined  wires.  Must  have  practical  propellers  turning  very 
easily  by  slight  breeze.  Make  second  action  of  scene  before  making  first  action. 

Second  action:  With  reversing  camera.  Enter  airship  with  aviator  in 
driver's  seat,  sliding  backward  down  inclined  wires,  propellers  turning.  Airship 
stops  on  ground,  but  propellers  keep  on  turning;  aviator  takes  tableau  attitude 
to  be  assumed  again  in  first  action. 

First  action:  With  direct  camera.  Discovered,  the  aeroplane  just  as  it 
was  in  tableau  of  second  action,  but  without  aviator  and  with  propellers  stopped. 
Propellers  may  be  tied  to  frame  with  a  light  string  easily,  broken.  A  sufficient 
breeze  should  be  blowing  to  turn  the  propellers  continuously  after  they  have  started. 
Enter  aviator  and  assistants,  or  they  may  be  "discovered"  or  "jumped  in."  In- 
spect airship  thoroughly.  Aviator  takes  scat;  ass-istants  start  propellers  by  turning 
them  forcibly  which  breaks  string  and  breeze  then  keeps  them  turning.  Exeunt 
all  assistants  left.  Aviator  in  driver's  seat  assumes  the  tableau  pose  of  the  second 
action,  made  at  the  close  of  the  second  action  in  front  of  the  reversing  camera 
and,  therefore,  appearing  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  action  of  the  scene  in 
reproduction . 

In  lieu  of  the  dummy  airship  and  the  staged  action,  a  bona  fide"  airship  or 
aeroplane  making  a  bona  fide  start  or  a  view  of  an  airship  in  flight  would  serve 
the  purposes  of  Scene  17.  Stock  actors  need  not  appear  in  the  scene.  One  direct 
action  scene  of  a  bona  fide  airship  under  any  condition  of  motion  would  be  all 
that  the  scene  requires,  the  trick  feature  of  the  start  of  the  dummy  being  entirely 
obviated. 

The  entire  scries  of  scenes  involving  the  airship  or  aeroplane  may  be  made 
with  a  free  balloon  instead,  if  the  properties  are  more  easily  available  to  the  pro- 
ducer. Scene  17  is  then  a  bona  fide  scene  of  any  balloon  ascension.  In  Scene  18, 
Johnnie  leaps  to  catch  a  dangling  rope.  Scene  19,  the  basket  of  the  balloon  is  seen 


89 


22  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

and  Johnnie  enters  by  climbing  the  rope  through  the  bottom  of  the  picture.  Scene 
20  is  staged  in  the  balloon  basket. 

Trick  Note  I.  In  front  of  the  camera  and  as  high  as  Johnnie  can 
jump  and  catch  is  a  fixed  horizontal  bar  such  as  acrobats  use.  The  camera  is  set 
to  take  the  ground  below  the  bar  as  the  foreground  line  of  the  picture  and  to  clear 
a  foot  or  more  between  the  bar  and  the  upper  line  of  the  picture,  the  bar  being  above 
the  picture.  With  a  bar  7  to  8  feet  from  the  ground  and  with  a  3-inch  lens  in  the 
camera,  the  distance  from  camera  to  bar  would  be  about  24  feet.  The  'distance 
between  standards  supporting  the  bar  must  be  more  than  8  feet  that  the  standards 
may  be  out  of  the  picture.  The  shadow  if  any  must  fall  toward  the  camera,  that 
it  may  not  show  in  the  picture.  When  Johnnie  leaps  and  catches  the  bar  he  pulls 
himself  out  of  the  picture  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  at  that  time  all  eyes  have  been 
fixed  above  the  horizontal  bar,  as  though  the  airship  were  just  there,  and  as  though 
Johnnie  hat  jumped  and  caught  the  airship.  If  he  can  get  out  of  the  picture 
quickly  enough,  it  will  seem  that  he  has  jumped  higher  than  the  picture  to  catch 
the  airship. 

Trick  Note  J.  The  airship  (dummy  or  bona  fide)  is  rigidly  supported 
by  invisible  wires  or  by  trestles  at  its  ends,  in  the  latter  case  the  camera  being  set 
close  and  the  trestles  being  off  the  sides  of  the  picture.  Flight  is  simulated  by 
painting  clouds  on  a  canvas  band  and  mounting  the  canvas  on  rollers  and  moving 
the  clouds  past  the  ship  as  a  moving  background.  A  slight  panoram  movement 
and  vertical  rocking  movement  of  the  camera  simulates  the  tipping  and  swerving 
of  the  airship  in  flight. 

Trick  Note  K.  Johnnie  enters  by  jumping  upward  and  catching  the 
airship  as  an  acrobat  catches  a  horizontal  bar,  then  climbs  aboard. 

Note  L.  A  near  view  of  the  motionless  airship.  If  the  cloud  curtain 
on  rollers  is  used,  it  may  be  shown  as  a  background,  Scenes  19  and  20  being  com- 
bined. If  roller  cloud  curtain  be  not  available,  the  view  may  be  so  taken  that  no 
motion  is  needed,  Johnnie  and  the  near  parts  of  the  airship  filling  the  screen, 
with  possibly  the  aviator  also  visible.  Use  the  rocking  or  panoram  of  camera 
to  simulate  the  airship's  movement. 

Note  M.  //  bona  fide  airship  is  available,  no  trick  flights  are  required, 
all  pictures  being  made  with  the  airship  at  rest  except  the  bona  fide  start,  or  a  short 
bona  fide  view  of  the  airship  in  flight.  If  stock  negative  of  an  airship  in  flight  is 
available,  it  may  be  used  for  Scene  17  and  the  dummy  for  Scenes  19  and  20  may 
be  of  a  design  in  imitation  of  the  airship  of  Scene  17. 

SPECIMEN  TRAVEL  SCRIP 

As  a  task  for  an  author,  the  writing  of  a  scrip  for  a  travel  pic- 
ture is  not  a  long  nor  a  difficult  task.  It  is  at  most  a  guidance  for 
the  producer.  In  many  cases  the  author's  scrip  may  be  dispensed 
with  altogether,  the  producer  going  into  the  field  equipped  with 
the  camera  only  and  making  photographs  of  whatever  opportunity 
may  offer  in  the  hope  of  piecing  them  together  to  form  an  acceptable 
series.  The  following  scrip  is  a  specimen  which  might  be  given  to 
a  producer  as  his  instruction,  with  liberty  to  omit  any  unduly  diffi- 
cult scene  and  to  add  whatever  scenes  may  be  offered  by  chance. 


90 


W  Q 


eg 


MOTOGRAPHY  23 

TITLE 
A  Trip  Across  Lake  Michigan 

PLOT 

A  trip  beginning  in  Chicago  and  ending  in  South  Haven,  Michigan, 
via  steamer  "Westland,"  showing  something  of  fruit  traffic. 

SCENARIO 

Cast  of  Characters 

None 

Scene  Sets 

None  Special 

Synopsis 

Title:     "Chicago  River." 

SCENE  1.  Panorama  from  one  of  the  bridges,  showing  large  passenger 
steamers  at  dock,  showing  particularly  the  Westland,  on  which  the  trip  is  to 
be  made. 

SCENE  2.  Turning  of  a  bridge  and  passing  through  of  a  large  freight 
boat. 

SCENE  3.  Leaving  of  the  little  passenger  boat  on  its  frequent  trips 
down  the  drainage  canal. 

Title:      "Away  for  Vacation  Days." 

SCENE  4.     Ticket  window,   people  buying  tickets. 

SCENE  5.     Gangplank  of  steamer,  people  going  aboard. 

Title:     "Leaving  the  River." 

SCENE  6.  Travel  scene  from  bow  of  boat,  showing  opening  of  Rush 
Street  bridge  to  let  boat  through.  Better  make  this  with  trick  handle,  half 
speed.  Show  also  points  of  interest  on  banks  of  river  and  lighthouse  on  pier 
at  mouth  of  river. 

Title:     "Chicago  Water  Front." 

SCENE  7.  Panorama  of  Chicago  water  front.  Make  this  from  the 
outer  breakwater,  two  or  three  camera  stands  if  necessary. 

Title:     "Out  of  Sight  of  Land." 

SCENE  8.  Panorama  of  waves,  showing  details  of  -boat  structure,  sweep- 
ing the  horizon  rapidly  from  stern  of  boat  to  stem  without  showing  land. 

Title:     "South  Haven,  Michigan,  Breakwater." 

SCENE  9.  View  from  bow  of  steamer  as  vessel  approaches  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  Trick  handle  probably. 

Title:     "South  Haven." 

SCENE  10.  Panorama  of  South  Haven  water  front.  Make  from  light- 
house at  end  of  pier. 

Title:     "Oh!    There  you  are!" 

SCENE  11.  Passengers  disembarking  from  boat.  Greetings  by  friends. 
May  require  some  posing  and  stock  actors. 

Title:     "Off  for  a  Day  on  the  Farm," 

SCENE  12.  'Bus,  loaded,  driving  down  village  street,  passengers  waving 
to  camera  man. 


91 


24  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Title:     "Peaches." 

SCENE  13.  Peach  orchards,  picking  peaches,  packing  in  baskets,  haul- 
ing to  town,  loading  on  steamer  for  Chicago  market.  Grapes,  plums,  anything 
that  can  be  had  of  the  fruit  industry.  Several  scenes. 

Title:     "South  Haven  Amusements." 

SCENE  14.  Dance  pavilion,  roller  coaster,  the  little  launch  on  the  river 
loaded  with  passengers.  Several  scenes.  (End  of  picture.) 

The  picture-show  patrons  like  the  dramas  and  comedies  and  as  a 
rule  find  the  travels  tiresome.  They  demand  the  dramas  and  make 
caustic  remarks  about  the  dry  travels.  The  theater  managers  get 
this  sentiment  from  their  patrons  and,  in  turn,  take  it  to  the  film 
exchanges,  refusing  travels  sometimes  when  offered  for  exhibition. 
The  film  exchanges,  in  turn,  carry  this  sentiment  to  the  manufac- 
turers. The  result  is  a  strange  dodge  on  the  part  of  the  film  manu- 
facturers, producing  what  might  be  called  a  travel  and  drama  or 
travel  and  comedy.  It  is  produced  by  combining  something  of  a 
dramatic  or  comic  nature  with  the  scenery  which  is  to  form  the  sub- 
ject for  the  travel  picture. 

SPECIMEN  TRAVEL  AND  COMEDY  SCRIP 
The  following  is  a  specimen  scrip  for  such  a  film  picture: 

TITLE 
Sammy  at  Niagara  Falls 

PLOT 

A  scenic  review  of  Niagara  Falls.  Sammy  takes  a  train  and  arrives  at 
the  Falls.  In  recording  Sammy's  adventures  at  the  Falls  such  scene  sets  are 
chosen  as  to  do  the  falls  completely 

SCENARIO 

Cast  of  Characters 

Sammy,  ordinary  dress  except  a  comical  cap 
Office  help 
Visitors  at  Falls  for  passers-by  business 

Scene  Sets 
Office  scene 

Bedroom,  poorly  furnished 
A  railway  station 

Another  railway  station,  with  sign,  "Niagara  Falls" 
Natural  scenery  at  Niagara  Falls,  New  York 

Synopsis 
Title:     "Sammy  is  Off  for  a  Vacation." 


MOTOGRAPHY  25 

SCENE  1.  Office,  with  Bookkeeper  and  Typewriter  Operator.  Discovered, 
Sammy,  bookkeeper,  stenographer,  other  help.  Sammy  in  great  glee,  talks 
to  all,  serially,  makes  more  confusion  than  headway  with  his  work,  bookkeeper 
hands  him  pay  envelope,  Sammy  tears  open  and  takes  out  money,  waves 
money  in  glee,  gets  hat,  exit,  all  stopping  work  and  waving  adieu. 

Title:     "Where  Shall  I  Spend  My  Vacation?" 

SCENE  2.  Bedroom.  Enter  Sammy,  in  glee,  carrying  newspaper.  Takes 
off  hat  and  coat,  sits,  feet  up,  reads  paper  with  frowns,  suddenly  great  glee, 
holds  up  paper. 

Title:  "Newspaper.  Page,  showing  advertisement,  railway  to  Niagara 
Falls  and  return  $4.60,  tickets  good  one  week." 

(Back  to  Scene  2.)  Sammy  throws  down  paper,  takes  hat  and  coat, 
takes  money  from  pocket  and  replaces  it,  exit. 

SCENE  3.  Railway  station  platform.  Enter  Sammy,  paces  platform 
impatiently;  enter  supes  and  passers-by.  Enter  train,  Sammy  gets  on  board, 
exit  train. 

SCENE  4.  Railway  station  platform,  with  station  sign  "Xiagara  Falls." 
Enter  train.  Enter  passengers  leaving  train,  Sammy  last,  exit  Sammy  one 
side. 

SCENE  5.  Panorama  of  the  Falls,  from  any  convenient  elevation,  such 
as  balcony  at  Windsor  Hotel,  Canadian  side. 

SCENE  6.  Prospect  Point.  Shows  American  Falls  and  protecting  rail- 
ing at  Prospect  Point.  After  panorama  to  show  scene,  when  scene  is  nearly 
out,  enter  Sammy  with  fish  pole  and  begins  to  bait  hook. 

SCENE  7.  The  stone  bridge.  While  panoraming  the  bridge,  Sammy 
nearly  gets  run  over  by  a  rig  while  walking  around  in  the  roadway  with  a  tin 
cup  looking  for  water,  stage  business  of  thirst. 

SCENE  8.  Terrapin  Island.  View  from  Goat  Island,  showing  bridge 
to  Terrapin  Island,  panoraming  for  view.  As  view  nears  end,  Sammy  comes 
out  half  way  across  Terrapin  Bridge  with  a  string  on  his  tin  cup,  lowers  the 
cup  into  the  water,  hauls  it  up  and  gets  a  much  satisfying  drink. 

Sc  KM:  9.  Maid  of  the  Mist.  Show  boat  at  dock,  and  passengers  in- 
cluding Sammy  passing  aboard,  Falls  in  background.  . 

SCENE  10.  Camera  on  board  the  Maid  of  the  Mist.  Near  view  of  the 
Falls.  Sammy  appears  at  rail  in  near  foreground  of  camera  and  is  deathly 
seasick. 

SCENE  11.  Cave  of  the  Winds.  Panoram  for  view,  then  pick  up  Sammy 
and  panoram  him  half  way  across  the  bridges  between  Goat  Island  and  the 
Cave  of  the  Winds.  He  becomes  afraid  and  turns  back.  Again  attempts  it, 
but  again  turns  back,  this  time  finally.  Camera  keeps  him  in  field  continu- 
ously. '(End  of  Picture.) 

Such  a  combination  enables  the  film  manufacturer  to  render 
his  travel  pictures  more  acceptable  to  that  class  of  patron  disliking 
the  travel  in  its  pure  form.  The  exhibitor  also  has  opportunity  to 
advertise  the  picture  in  his  theater  front  announcement  either  as 
"A  Roaring  Comic"  or  as  "A  Beautiful  and  Wonderful  Nature 
Picture." 


93 


26  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

SPECIMEN  INDUSTRIAL  SCRIP 

To  depict  an  industry  completely  sometimes  requires  pictures 
taken  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  "The  Rubber  Industry"  should 
begin  with  views  of  the  tropical  rubber  trees,  curing  the  sap  for 
shipment  and  loading  on  vessels.  Then  the  scene  shifts  to  the  northern 
factory,  the  processes  of  bringing  the  rubber  into  commercial  shape 
and  the  manufacture  of  some  well  known  article  wholly  or  largely 
composed  of  rubber.  The  picture  may  close  with  a  scene  showing 
manufactured  article  in.  use.  The  scenes  taken  inside  the  factory 
doubtless  would  require  artificial  lighting. 

An  industrial  film  well  done  sometimes  involves  scenes  of  great 
difficulty,  and  even  trick  pictures.  The  following  specimen  scrip 
calls  for  the  "stop"  picture. 

TITLE 

Raising  Watermelons 

PLOT 

Preparing  the  ground  and  planting.  Then  a  growing  vine  by  stop  pic- 
ture. Picking,  loading,  hauling,  loading  cars,  freight  train  in  transit  to  city, 
melons  on  sale  in  city  store  front. 

SCENARIO 

Title:     "Preparing  the  Ground." 

SCENE  1.  (Select  a  scene  with  picturesque  background,  showing  gate 
from  field  to  highway.  Take  camera  stand  to  panoram  field,  gate  and  high- 
way, including  background  objects.  Build  permanent  camera  stand,  that  the 
identical  position  of  camera  may  be  taken  from  time  to  time.)  Plowing  and 
fertilizing  in  the  fall. 

SCENE  2.     From  same  viewpoint,   a  snowstorm  scene. 

SCENE  3.     From  same  viewpoint,  a  sleigh  passing  on  the  highway. 

Title:     "In  the  Spring,  the  Work  Begins  Again." 

SCENE  4.     From  same  viewpoint,   spring  plowing. 

SCENE  5.     Forming  the  hills  for  planting. 

SCENE  6.     Planting  the  seed. 

Title:    "The  Growing  Plant." 

SCENE  7.  Stop  picture,  studio.  The  hand  planting  the  seed,  the 
breaking  of  the  plant  through  surface  of  earth,  growing  hourly  to  blossom. 

SCENE  8.     Stop  picture  of  field. 

SCENE  9.     Stop  picture  of  near  view  of  melon. 

Title:     "Selecting  the  Ripe  Fruit." 

SCENE  10.  View  of  field  with  man  working,  testing  melons  for  ripeness. 
As  he  comes  near  the  camera,  his  tests  are  clearly  seen,  and  the  cutting  of  the 
stem  and  turning  up  of  the  white  side  is  shown. . 


04 


MOTOGRAPHY  27 

Title:     "On  the  Way  to  Market." 

SCENE  11.     Wagon  in  field,  loading  the  selected  melons. 

SCENE  12.     Panoram  loaded  wagon  through  gate  and  along  highway. 

SCENE  13.     Near  shipping  point,  many  wagons,  all  loaded. 

SCENE  14.  Loading  the  melons  into  railway  cars,  showing  method  of 
handling. 

SCENE  15.  The  melon  farmer  gets  the  money  at  the  car  door  from  the 
shipper. 

SCENE  16.  From  the  caboose  of  a  railway  freight  train,  showing  train 
ahead  and  scenery  passing  by,  running  through  rural  district. 

SCENE  17.     Same,   entering  large  city. 

SCENE  18.  City  store  front,  melons  on  sale.  Lady  enters  and  buys. 
Delivery  boy  puts  purchased  melon  in  basket  and  exit  carrying.  (End  of 
Picture.) 

Who  is  the  Author.  Usually,  it  is  the  producer.  Surely  no 
author  is  better  qualified  to  write  within  the  limitations  of  the  motion- 
picture  art  than  the  producer.  Surely  no  producer  is  better  able 
to  interpret  a  story  than  the  author.  In  industrials,  the  producer 
may  look  over  the  situation  in  the  capacity  of  author  and  write  the 
scrip  in  memorandum  form  as  his  field  notes  for  working  with  the 
camera.  With  the  notes  in  hand,  he  takes  the  camera  man  and 
equipment  and  makes  the  various  scenes  which  his  notes  show  pos- 
sible or  desirable.  In  travels,  comedy,  or  dramatic  accompaniment, 
the  field  should  be  looked  over  to  learn  its  possibilities,  and  no  one 
is  better  qualified  than  an  experienced  producer.  In  current  events, 
an  experienced  producer  is  the  best  judge  of  advantageous  view- 
points. In  chases,  the  central  idea,  the  joke  of  the  picture,  may  be 
sufficient  information  to  pass  from  the  author  to  the  producer,  the 
producer  providing  scenes  to  embody  the  thought  in  a  picture 
within  the  limitations  of  the  art  and  his  immediate  environment. 
It  is  in  comedies  and  dramas  that  the  author  as  such  may  be  entirely 
remote  from  the  producer.  Scrips  for  comedy  and  drama  may  be 
written  as  short  stories  are  written,  and  may  be  submitted  to  film 
manufacturers  as  short  stories  are  submitted  to  magazine  publishers. 

THE  PRODUCER 

The  producer  is  in  charge  of  the  studio,  of  the  scene  painters, 
of  the  sign  writers,  of  the  stage  carpenters,  of  the  property  man,  of 
the  actors,  and  is  nominally  in  charge  of  the  camera  men. 

When  the  producer  undertakes  a  picture,  the  scrip  is  made 
as  complete  as  he  desires  by  adding  details  of  scenes,  notes  of  probable 


95 


28  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

location  of  outdoor  scenes,  names  of  actors  suitable  for  the  parts  or 
notes  on  actors  required  to  be  found  for  the  parts,  as  well  as  notes 
on  other  pictures  being  produced  or  to  be  produced  contemporane- 
ously with  the  scrip  being  studied.  Studio  stage  sets  and  scenery 
required  are  noted  and  a  property  list  is  made.  The  titles  also  are 
noted,  for  title  making  is  a  part  of  the  work  quite  distinct  from  scene 
making. 

The  producer  keeps  all  his  departments  running  as  smoothly 
as  possible,  -the  motion  scenes  for  a  drama  being  produced  this  week 
while  titles  are  being  made  for  another  drama  for  which  the  motion 
scenes  were  produced  last  week,  and  the  stage  carpenters  and  scene 
painters  are  at  work  upon  studio  settings  and  properties  for  still 
another  drama  for  which  the  motion  scenes  will  be  produced  hi  the 
weeks  following. 

The  order  of  producing  drama  is:  (1~)  Painting  the  scenery 
for  the  studio  sets,  for  none  but  the  simplest  scene  sets  are  used 
repeatedly.  (2}  Getting  the  properties  and  costumes.  (3)  Getting 
the  actors  and  rehearsing  and  photographing  the  motion  scenes. 
(4)  Producing  the  motion  scenes  before  the  camera.  (5)  Inspect- 
ing the  proofs  of  the  motion  scenes,  retaking  unsatisfactory  scenes 
and  making  additional  scenes  which  may  seem  desirable — some- 
times, alas,  only  for  v  "padding" — after  the  author's  scenes  have 
been  reviewed.  (#)  Rewriting  the  scrip  if  necessary  to  fit  the 
drama  as  embodied  in  the  motion  scenes.  (7)  Writing  the  titles 
finally  and  in  detail.  (<?)  Making  the  titles.  .  (#)  Adjusting  lengths 
of  titles  and  scenes  to  make  the  desired  total  picture  length. 

Studio  Scenes.  The  scenery  used  for  setting  the  stage  differs 
from  the  scenery  of  the  dramatic  stage  by  the  absence  of  color. 
Plain  black  and-  white  and  neutral  tints  are  most  desirable,  for  color 
is  objectionable  in  that  it  may  be  misleading  in  tone  values  when 
photographed.  The  scenery  required  is  only  sufficient  to  fill  the  field 
of  the  camera.  Usually  when  staging  an  interior,  but  two  walls  of 
a  room  are  shown.  In  such  a  case,  the  third  wall  is  not  needed  in 
the  scene  set,  nor  are  flies  needed  for  the  ceiling.  Wall  scenery  may 
be  made  in  sections  or  panels,  Fig.  2,  and  the  sections  may  be  sd 
together  as  desired,  making  possible  the  use  of  the  same  painted 
work  for  several  scene  sets  sufficiently  different  from  each  other. 
If  a  spectator  should  recognize  any  scene  as  being  familiar  because 


MOTOGRAPHY 


29 


97 


30  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

of  prior  appearance  in  other  dramas,  the  first  thought  would  be 
that  the  film  then  being  viewed  is  an  old  one.  To  avoid  this,  strik- 
ing scenes  and  highly  special  scenes,  Fig.  3,  are  used  but  once.  Only 
the  more  ordinary  and  characterless  scenery  may  be  used  repeatedly. 
In  Fig.  2,  which  is  a  good  example  of  scenery  for  repeated  use,  five 
"flats,"  each  so  small  that  they  resemble  the  "wings"  of  a  dramatic 
stage  setting  and  each  only  sufficient  in  height  to  cover  the  film  win- 
dow in  the  image  in  the  camera,  are  shown  combined  for  a  scene 


Fig.  3.     View  of  Indoor  Studio,  with  Stage  Setting  for  Outdoor  Scene 

set.  When  rearranged  with  the  door  at  right  or  at  middle  back,  new 
and  sufficiently  different  sets  are  produced  for  use  in  another  drama, 
while  with  the  addition  of  a  flat  having  a  window,  still  further  com- 
binations may  be  made  to  use  the  scenery  to  its  limit  before  re- 
painting. 

A  set  of  scenery  flats  so  designed  as  to  be  papered  with  wall 
paper  may  be  changed  beyond  recognition  in  a  few  minutes  and 
at  a  very  small  expense  merely  by  giving  them  a  new  dress  of  figured 
paper.  For  wall  paper,  the  flats  should  have  a  width  proper  to  take 
exactly  two  or  more  full  width  strips  of  wall  paper,  and  the  paper 
should  be  applied  so  that  the  figures  will  match  at  the  edges  when 
the  flats  are  set  together.  Otherwise,  the  effect  is  ludicrous. 


98 


MOTOGRAPHY 


32  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

In  addition  to  painted  scenery  for  the  studio,  which  may  rep- 
resent either  an  interior  or  an  exterior  scene,  painted  scenery  some- 
times is  used  for  outdoor  staging.  Fig.  4  shows  a  scene  set  from  a 
production  of  "Richard  III."  made  by  the  Vitagraph  Company. 
The  camera  stands  in  the  foreground  of  the  illustration,  facing  the 
scene  set.  The  field  of  the  image  in  the  camera  does  not  extend  to 
the  right  and  left  beyond  the  painted  scenery  representing  the  stone 
wall,  hence  in  the  motion  picture  there  is  given  the  effect  of  an  in- 
definite stone  wall  having  the  arched  entrance.  Behind  the  arch  is 


Fig.  5.     Natural  Scene  Setting,  Outside  of  Cottage 

a  flat  scene  with  houses  and  clear  sky.  This  is  a  painted  scene  also, 
placed  against  the  tight  board  fence  which  runs  across  the  view  at 
the  foot  of  the  railway  embankment.  Beyond  the  railway  embank- 
ment are  trees,  the  tops  of  which  appear  above  the  painted  stone 
wall.  In  Fig.  2  and  Fig.  3,  the  image  in  the  camera  does  not  extend 
above  the  top  of  the  painted  scenery;  in  Fig.  4  the  camera  includes 
the  top  of  the  wall  and  a  strip  of  the  sky  above,  an  effect  which  in 
the  studio  would  require  a  strip  of  sky  scenery  above  and  behind 
the  wall.  The  setting  of  Fig.  4  is  properly  called  a  studio  set,  even 
though  not  staged  inside  a  building.  Fig.  5  shows  a  natural  scene  set. 


100 


MOTOGRAPHY  33 

Studio  Lighting.  Artificial.  Artificial  lighting  for  studio  scenes 
is  most  economically  done  with  mercury-vapor  lamps.  These  lamps 
are  made  of  long  glass  tubes  containing  mercury.  When  glowing, 
they  give  a  green  light,  rather  disagreeable  to  the  eye  at  first,  but 
very  powerful  in  acting  upon  the  sensitive  photographic  film.  The 
light  must  be  sufficient  to  impress  the  image  upon  the  sensitive  film 
in  the  short  time  allotted  by  the  camera  for  each  of  the  little  pictures. 
This  is  a  minimum  requirement  of  fifty  standard  mercury-vapor 
lamps  for  a  stage  set  measuring  14  feet  wide,  for  satisfactory  results 


Fig.  6.     Indoor  Studio  Setting  for  Outdoor  Scene,  Showing  Lamp  Arrangement  for 
Artificial  Lighting 

in  the  finished  pictures.     Studio  lamp  plants  vary  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  lamps,  and  vary  in  cost  from  $2,500  to  $10,000. 

As  used  in  motion-picture  studios,  the  mercury-vapor  lamps 
are  mounted  in  groups,  usually  six  or  more  lamps  per  group,  some 
of  the  lamps  being  hung  from  the  ceiling  of  the  studio  for  top  lights 
and  some  being  mounted  in  standing  frames  for  side  lights.  The 
lighting  arrangement  will  be  clear  from  a  study  of  Fig.  6.  The 
studio  is  entirely  without  light  other  than  the  artificial  light  of  the 
mercury-vapor  lamps,  which  are  arranged  upon  the  ceiling  and  upon 
both  sides  of  the  scene  set.  In  a  studio  of  this  kind,  it  is  possible  to 


101 


34 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


confine  all  scenes  to  the  standard  stage  dimensions  of  the  studio, 
the  lamps  being  properly  arranged  and  sufficient  in  number  to  light 
that  standard  stage  area  properly.  Working  with  a  studio  of  the 
type  illustrated  in  Fig.  6  makes  the  producer  entirely  independent 
of  the  weather  conditions  for  his  indoor  scenes.  In  Figs.  2  and  3, 
large  windows  are  placed  in  the  wall  of  the  studio  at  the  left,  making 
possible  photography  by  daylight  when  the  weather  is  favorable, 
the  daylight  being  supplemented  as  desired  by  the  artificial  light. 
In  Fig.  2,  a  bank  of  mercury- vapor  lamps  is  suspended  from  the 
ceiling,  and  the  side  lights  also  are  in  position.  In  Fig.  3,  a  battery 


Fig.  7.     Lutoin  Factory.  Showing  the  Glass-Roof  Studio 

of  top  and  side  lights  are  glowing,  although  the  daylight  window  is 
visible  at  the  left  in  the  view. 

Daylight.  There  is  a  quality  in  the  best  daylight  picture  which 
is  lacking  in  the  best  picture  made  by  artificial  light.  The  artificial 
lighting  as  used  commercially  is  sufficient  to  impress  the  image  upon 
the  photographic  film,  but  it  does  not  reproduce  in  all  fidelity  the 
strength  and  diffusion  of  daylight,  nor  the  uniformity  in  intensity 
and  direction  throughout  the  whole  scene  which  is  obtained  from 
daylight.  Lighting  a  large  stage  artificially  also  involves  a  large 
expense. 

The  daylight  studio  is  of  three  types — the  glass  house,  the 
turntable,  and  the  yard.  The  glass  house  type  of  studio  is  sho.wn 
in  external  view  in  Fig.  7.  That  an  auxiliary  lighting  plant  is  de- 
sirable is  evidenced  by  the  details  of  Figs.  2  and  3. 


102 


MOTOGRAPHY 


35 


A  studio  of  the  turntable  type  is  shown  in  Fig.  8.  The  mov- 
able platform  is  turned  to  get  the  sunlight  in  the  right  direction. 
Pictures  may  be  made  with  this  platform  from  early  morning  until 
sunset,  and  the  producer  may  have  his  light  from  the  desired  direc- 
tion at  all  times.  The  exposure  to  rain  and  wind  are  the  objection- 
able features  of  a  studio  of  this  type.  It  seems  hardly  natural  for 
the  draperies  inside  a  house  to  be  in  motion,  even  in  a  motion  picture. 
Unless  an  inside  studio  also  is  available,  the  producer  is  dependent 
upon  the  weather  in  more  ways  than  sunlight  alone. 

The  yard  studio  is  a  matter  of  setting  up  the  scenery  in  a  fenced 
enclosure,  as  in  Fig.  4.  Where  the  indoor  studio  is  limited  in  size, 


Fig.  8.     The  Vitagraph  Roof  Studio,  Showing  Turntable  Construction 

the  method  of  Fig.  4  may  be  adopted  for  scene  sets  which  cannot 
be  staged  in  the  restricted  space.  One  adjunct  usually  forming  a 
part  of  an  established  yard  studio  is  the  tank.  The  possibility  of 
staging  a  scene  with  even  a  limited  amount  of  water  adds  much  to* 
the  producer's  possibilities. 

Pictures  Without  Studios.  A  prominent  film  manufacturing 
company  operated  for  years  without  a  studio  and  without  painted 
scene  sets,  releasing  a  reel  each  week.  On  several  occasions,  film 
manufacturing  companies,  whose  studios  and  factories  are  located 
in  the  northern  latitudes,  have  sent  producing  companies  to  the 
tropics  in  the  winter,  where  many  complete  dramas  have  been  pro- 
duced before  the  camera  without  studio  and  without  artificial  scenery. 

The  beauty  and  attractiveness  of  a  motion  picture  is  enhanced 
by  avoiding  painted  scenery  and  its  artificial  appearance  whenever 


103 


36  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

possible.  No  painted  scenery  can  equal  the  detail  and  accuracy 
of  the  physical  objects.  Fig.  3  would  be  more  pleasing  had  the 
camera  and  actors  been  carried  to  Spain  for  a  natural  scene  setting 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  story. 

It  is  the  custom  to  stage  indoor  scenes  in  the  studio  with  painted 
scenery;  to  stage  street  scenes  outdoors  in  the  streets,  using  the 
natural  street  scenes;  and  to  stage  rural  scenes  in  the  country.  A 
studio  set  for  a  street  scene  may  be  made  thoroughly  acceptable  by 
care  in  preparation  of  the  scenery  and  by  avoiding  vegetation  in  the 
scenery.  In  a  street  scene  of  long  duration,  the  studio  setting  is  a 
decided  advantage,  since  the  passers-by  do  not  have  to  be  contended 
with. 

The  selection  of  natural  settings  is  a  feature  of  his  work  by 
which  one  producer  easily  may  excel  another  in  the  quality  of  his 
product.  The  motion-picture  camera  has  a  "narrow  angle"  eye, 
permitting  the  use  of  a  small  scenic  setting  without  including  the 
whole  country-side  as  a  part  of  the  view.  On  the  contrary,  by  a 
change  of  lenses  in  the  camera,  just  as  much  of  the  whole  view  as 
is  desired  may  be  included,  panoraming  the  camera  if  necessary 
to  include  still  more.  The  adaptability  of  the  setting  to  the  story 
is  the  principal  point  to  be  borne  in  mind  when  selecting  natural 
scene  settings.  Pictorial  merit  in  the  scene  itself  is  of  secondary 
importance,  but  still  is  a  matter  of  much  importance  when  the  best 
of  motion  pictures  are  desired. 

In  outdoor  settings,  whether  wholly  natural  or  wholly  or  partly 
staged  with  painted  scenery,  constant  care  must  be  taken  to  avoid 
incongruous  features  of  the  background  from  appearing  in  the  pic- 
ture. A  scene  which  by  the  story  of  the  drama  is  set  in  the  fastnesses 
of  a  mountain  range,  far  from  any  civilization,  when  staged  in  a 
ravine  near  the  studio  should  not  show  a  house  gable  in  the  remote 
distance.  The  scene  set  in  Fig.  4,  as  viewed  by  the  fixed  camera 
which  made  the  illustration,  shows  tree  tops  above  the  stone  wall, 
yet  the  tree  trunks  do  not  appear  through  the  arch  of  the  wall.  This 
would  be  an  error  if  it  were  to  appear  so  in  the  finished  motion 
picture.  The  motion  camera  in  the  illustration  is  nearer  to  the 
scenic  stone  wall,  thus  by  its  different  perspective  and  narrower  lens 
angle  placing  the  top  of  the  wall  higher  in  the  sky  and  above  the 
tree  tops,  so  that  the  tree  tops  are  not  seen  in  the  motion  picture. 


104 


MOTOGRAPHY  37 

Properties  and  Costumes.  The  articles  or  "stage  properties" 
used  by  the  actors,  include  furniture  and  all  kinds  and  classes  of 
house  furnishings  from  parlor  clock  to  cook  stove  for  indoor  house 
scenes  set  in  the  studio;  desks  and  typewriters  for  office  scenes; 
carriages  for  street  scenes;  and  revolvers  and  black  masks  for  the 
bandits  in  the  mountains.  To  obtain  the  articles  needed  for  the 
production  of  a  reel  of  film  each  week  is  a  task  requiring  one  man's 
attention.  Once  used,  such  articles  as  are  likely  to  be  used  again 
are  stored  in  the  "property  room."  Unless  the  property  man  is 
systematic  by  nature,  the  property  room  soon  will  look  like  a  junk 
shop.  Costumes  aside  from  the  ordinary  street  dress  of  the  actors 
also  will  be  found  in  the  property  room,  including  particularly  uni- 
forms for  policemen  and  messenger  boys,  caps  and  aprons  for  the 
parlor  maids,  and  freak  clothing  for  the  comedian.  The  property 
man  is  the  producer's  assistant.  Seamstresses,  tailors,  carpenters, 
and  local  storekeepers  are  in  turn  the  assistants  to  the  property  man. 

Actors.  The  best  source  for  obtaining  actors  is  the  dramatic 
employment  agency.  Experienced  actors  are  desirable,  even  for  the 
minor  parts,  for  the  producer  as  a  rule  has  no  time  for  training  the 
amateur.  The  custom  is  to  employ  actors  for  a  day  at  a  time  only, 
the  standard  price  being  five  dollars  per  day.  One  day  the  pro- 
ducer may  need  three  or  four  actors,  the  next  day  twenty.  In  pro- 
ducing a  drama  occupying  the  producer  for  a  week,  he  may  require 
the  leading  characters  for  four  days  of  work,  a  few  minor  characters 
for  two  days  (one  day  in  the  studio  and  one  day  in  the  field)  and  a 
dozen  more  actors  may  be  needed  for  a  single  scene  requiring,  with 
all  rehearsals,  but  an  hour  or  two. 

Stock  Companies.  Some  actors  seem  to  have  an  inborn  faculty 
for  expressing  thought  without  words,  others  cannot  catch  the  trick. 
The  producer  quickly  recognizes  this  pantomime  ability  in  an  actor 
employed  by  chance,  and  lists  such  an  actor  for  service  in  the  more 
important  characters  of  his  productions,  even  placing  a  few  such 
actors  upon  a  fixed  weekly  or  monthly  pay  instead  of  employing 
them  at  the  day  rate  with  irregular  service.  The  group  of  actors 
thus  employed  continuously  is  called  a  stock  company  and  is  supple- 
mented by  as  many  more  actors  for  a  day  or  more  as  may  be  needed 
for  any  picture.  To  distinguish  between  the  stock  actor  and  the 
transient,  the  latter  is  called  a  supe,  an  abbreviation  for  supern  nmerary. 


105 


38  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Starring  an  Actor.  For  general  production  of  pictures,  con- 
tinuous use  of  an  actor  in  all  pictures  becomes  objectionable  to  an 
audience.  Most  emphatically  is  this  so  when  in  two  half-reel  pic- 
tures the  same  actor  takes  part  in  the  two  reels  The  young  wife 
who  just  fainted  in  her  husband's  arms  at  the  bedside  of  her  dead 
child  appears  on  the  same  picture  screen  after  a  quarter-minute 
title  as  giddy  sixteen  flirting  with  half  a  dozen  beaux.  On  the  dramatic 
stage,  such  use  of  an  actor  is  not  objectionable,  but  motion  pictures, 
from  the  fact  that  the  scene  sets  are  so  realistic,  lead  the  spectator 
to  accept  the  actors  also  as  real  and  thus  add  another  to  the  burdens 
of  the  producer. 

On  the  other  hand,  an  actor  may  be  "starred"  in  motion  pictures 
as  upon  the  dramatic  stage.  His  name  in  the  picture  title  will  in- 
troduce him  to  the  audience,  and  when  his  name  is  seen  again  in  a 
title  the  same  actor  will  be  expected.  If  "Sammy  at  Niagara  Falls" 
is  successful  on  Sammy's  part,  the  spectator  will  be  pleased  to  see 
another  title  reading,  "Sammy  at  Saratoga,"  "Sammy  Inherits  a 
Fortune,"  "Sammy  Captures  a  Burglar,"  or  "Sammy's  First  Love 
Affair." 

Rehearsals.  In  the  case  of  scenes  set  in  the  studio,  it  is  most 
convenient  to  set  the  stage  complete  and  to  set  the  camera  also  in 
readiness.  The  rehearsal  then  is  made  in  full  dress  upon  the  fully 
set  stage,  and  when  the  scene  is  creditably  performed  the  camera 
is  started  and  the  scene  repeated.  If  the  scene  is  difficult  to  repro- 
duce, two  negatives  should  be  taken.  If  any  flaw  in  the  action  occurs, 
or  if  the  producer  thinks  that  some  variation  would  improve  the 
scene,  the  scene  should  be  retaken,  the  two  scenes  then  being  viewed 
and  the  best  selected  when  criticising  the  proof  copy  of  the  film. 
On  a  scene  of  one  minute  in  duration,  the  cost  of  repeating  for  the 
second  negative  is  only  two  dollars  for  negative  film,  the  stage  set 
and  properties  being  of  course  already  at  hand  and  the  actors  al- 
ready rehearsed. 

In  the  case  of  scenes  set  in  natural  settings,  many  parts  of  the 
action  of  the  leading  characters  may  be  rehearsed  before  going  into 
the  field.  Such  rehearsals  will  shorten  the  time  required  in  the  field, 
and  as  weather  conditions  sometimes  change  suddenly,  the  saving 
of  time  is  well  worth  considering. 

In  the  street  scenes  where  a  city  or  village  street  is  used,  the 


106 


SCENE  FROM  PHOTOPLAY,  "THE  TEMPTRESS" 

Courtesy  of  Independent  Moving  Pictures  Co.,   New   York 


THE  CONTEMPLATED  SUICIDE  PREVENTED  BY  THE  BURGLARS 

Scene  from  Photoplay,  "A  Good  Turn" 
Courtesy  of  Lubin  Manufacturing  Company,  Philadelphia 


MOTOGRAPHY 


39 


action  required  should  be  thoroughly  understood  by  all  actors  in- 
volved, and  completely  rehearsed  if  of  a  nature  to  make  rehearsals 
possible,  Fig.  9.  Any  rehearsal  in  the  street  will  gather  a  crowd  of 
onlookers,  and  the  longer  the  rehearsal  the  larger  the  crowd.  Even 
the  setting  up  of  the  motion-picture  camera  on  its  tripod  is  in  itself 
an  invitation  for  a  crowd  to  gather  around  it,  and  some  of  them  will 
persist  in  trying  to  get  into  the  view.  The  passing  policeman  usually 
will  help,  but  the  scenes,  if  any,  must  be  short  on  a  busy  street. 
City  ordinances  usually  prohibit  the  making  of  "commercial"  motion 


Fig. 


An  Indoor  Rehearsal  for  an  Outdoor  Scene 


pictures  in  parks  or  boulevards.  A  blind  camera,  in  a  wagon  which 
may  be  stopped  at  the  curb  unobtrusively,  and  two  or  three  actors 
fully  rehearsed,  may  "put  on"  a  street  scene  completely  and  have  it 
photographed  and  finished  before  passers-by  realize  what  is  being 
done,  or  even  without  their  knowledge  at  all,  even  utilizing  some  of 
the  street  traffic  as  a  part  of  the  scene. 

Producing  a  Drama.  To  produce  the  drama,  "A  Midnight 
Cupid,"  the  scrip  of  which  has  been  given,  the  producer  would 
classify  his  scenes  into  "studio"  and  "field"  work,  as  follows: 

Studio  Scenes:  CM  room,  Scenes  2,  3,  5,  7,  26.  Parlor,  Scene  4.  Cot- 
tage bedroom,  Scenes  19,  21,  24. 


107 


40  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Field  Scenes:  First  park  set,  Scene  1.  Second  park  set,  Scenes  6,  16. 
Store  set,  Scenes  8,  14,  17.  Cottage  set,  Scenes  9,  10,  15,  18,  23,  25.  Field 
set,  Scenes  11,  12.  Street  set,  Scenes  13,  20,  22. 

Reviewing  these  for  characters,  the  four  principal  characters 
and  three  men  for  minor  parts  will  make  all  field  work  with  the 
addition  of  "children  playing  in  extreme  background"  in  Scene  14, 
and  Scene  6,  which  requires  the  two  servants  from  the  studio  scenes ; 
the  farmers  cannot  double  for  the  servants  because  they  appear 
together  in  Scene  26. 

Motion  Scenes.  Scene  4  requires  a  bunch  of  troublesome  actresses 
and  a  large  expense  for  wages  for  a  single  scene;  if  possible,  it  should 
be  made  when  the  bunch  of  girls  are  in  the  studio  in  conjunction 
with  the  scenes  of  another  drama.  By  working  this  Scene  4  into 
the  routine  of  another  production  having  a  parlor  scene  with  the 
same  scene  set  and  actresses,  the  expense  will  be  reduced  and  the 
producer's  time  will  be  economized. 

Aside  from  Scene  4,  all  scenes  should  be  made  in  continuous 
work.  The  studio  being  set  for  the  club  man's  rooms,  Scene  26 
may  be  made  first.  This  scene  being  made,  the  actress  who  played 
"woman  aged  40"  and  the  actor  who  played  the  "minister"  is  dis- 
missed. The  two  "well-dressed  men"  may  be  dismissed,  or  they 
may  make  up  promptly  for  grocer  and  policeman  if  the  producer 
desires  them  to  double  in  the  drama.  Time  is  allowed  for  them  to 
make  up  for  the  new  parts  while  Scenes  2,  3,  5  and  7  are  being  en- 
acted before  the  camera  with  the  same  stage  setting  used  for  Scene  26. 

Studio  work  for  the  drama  now  will  be  completed  by  resetting 
the  stage  for  the  cottage  bedroom,  Scenes  19,  21,  and  24,  the  actors 
required  being  only  the  three  leading  characters,  CM,  G,  and  GF. 
These  three  scenes  may  be  made  before  Scene  26,  or  after  return 
to  the  studio  from  the  field  work;  according  to  the  producer's  con- 
venience. 

The  producer  now  takes  into  the  field  the  four  major  actors, 
a  policeman,  two  servants,  two  farmers,  the  grocer,  and  children  for 
Scene  14.  Scene  6  is  rehearsed  and  performed  before  the  camera; 
the  two  actors  taking  the  part  of  servants  are  then  dismissed.  Scene 
16  follows  Scene  6  without  permitting  the  tramp  to  rise  from  his 
position  on  the  bench,  the  action  of  the  two  scenes  being  substan- 
tially continuous,  but  the  camera  lens  being  capped  for  a  foot  of 


108 


MOTOGRAPHY  41 

the  film  to  make  a  break  in  the  negative  between  the  two  scenes 
when  the  negative  is  developed. 

With  a  slight  change  in  camera  stand,  Scene  1  is  produced,  and 
the  actor  taking  the  part  of  the  policeman  may  be  dismissed. 

Proceeding  to  the  village  where  the  natural  scene  settings  have 
been  selected  or  are  known  beforehand  to  exist,  the  outside  of  the 
village  store  is  taken  first,  Scenes  8,  14,  and  17  being  produced  in 
order.  The  children  now  may  be  dismissed.  The  street  set  may  be 
made  next,  making  Scenes  13,  20,  and  22  in  order.  Next  the  cottage 
set,  making  in  order  Scenes  9,  10,  15,  18,  23,  and  25.  Then  the  field 
set  for  Scenes  11  and  12  completes  the  action  scenes  of  the  drama. 
The  scenes  have  been  made  in  this  order:  4,  26,  2,  3,  5,  7,  19,  21, 
24,  6,  16,  1,  8,  14,  17,  13,  20,  22,  9,  10,  15,  18,  23,  25,  11,  12.  The 
titles  are  yet  to  produce. 

Re  mew  and  Criticism.  When  the  negatives  have  been  developed, 
a  print  is  made  from  each  and  all  are  spliced  together  in  the  order 
in  which  the  scenes  occur  in  the  drama.  The  complete  drama,  in 
action  scenes  only,  is  projected  for  the  criticism  of  the  producer  and 
others,  including  perhaps  the  author.  The  result  of  this  criticism 
in  some  cases  may  be  that  the  entire  production  is  rejected,  even 
the  story  being  condemned  as  unsuitable  for  a  motion-picture  sub- 
ject, or  the  producer  may  be  required  to  reproduce  the  entire  drama 
or  certain  parts  of  it.  Perhaps  some  actor  is  judged  unsuited  to  his 
part  and  all  scenes  in  which  he  has  appeared  must  be  retaken 
with  another  actor  substituted. 

Padding.  When  making  each  scene,  the  producer  had  before 
him  a  schedule  for  the  length  of  each  scene  in  the  drama  to  produce 
the  total  length  required.  In  the  review  and  criticism,  some  scenes 
may  be  cut  in  length  and  others  omitted  for  cause.  If  this  reduces 
the  total  length  of  action  scenes  below  the  required  amount,  scenes 
may  be  substituted  to  fill  out,  or  the  remaining  scenes  may  be  left 
a  little  longer  than  their  predetermined  or  required  lengths.  This  is 
"padding"  the  film.  As  an  example  of  what  might  be  done  at  the 
risk  of  spoiling  a  good  film  picture,  "A  Midnight  Cupid"  might  open 
with  the  village  cottage  scene  setting,  girl  despondent  talks  to  father, 
brings  paper  and  pen,  father  writes,  then  show  title  the  letter  which 
the  tramp  reads  in  Scene  1.  A  scene  of  the  tramp's  troubles  seeking 
food  and  expressing  hunger  may  be  inserted  between  Scenes  1  and  2. 


100 


42  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Between  Scenes  7  and  8,  scenes  showing  the  club  man  en  route 
to  the  country  may  be  inserted,  and  between  Scenes  25  and  26,  scenes 
of  all  the  characters  en  route  might  be  added.  Distinction  may  be 
drawn  between  a  scene  added  to  lengthen  the  film  and  a  scene  added 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  telling  of  the  story,  only  the 
former  being  "padding." 

Rewriting.  The  scenes  and  their  order  being  determined, 
the  producer  must  correct  the  synopsis  and  perhaps  other  parts  of 
the  scrip  to  fit  the  completed  drama  if  any  correction  is  necessary. 
Particularly  in  the  review  and  criticism  is  the  matter  of  titles  dis- 
cussed, and  titles  in  correct  and  final  form  are  determined.  In  the 
corrected  synopsis,  the  length  of  each  scene  and  of  each  title  is  noted. 

Titles.  The  titles  are  made  by  the  producer  or  under  his  direc- 
tion and  are  given  to  the  photographer  to  be  done  into  film.  The 
title  is  painted,  printed,  written,  typewritten,  or  drawn,  or  made 
of  movable  letters  arranged  upon  a  support  and  removed  after 
photographing  to  be  rearranged  for  other  titles.  The  size  may  be 
anything  desired.  The  length  of  film  for  a  title  should  be  proportioned 
to  the  number  of  words  in  the  title,  being  thus  proportioned  to  the 
length  of  time  which  the  spectator  requires  to  read  it.  Two  feet  is 
enough  for  a  single  word,  and  a  foot  per  word  may  be  taken  as  a  rule 
for  titles  longer  than  half  a  dozen  words. 

A  sign  writer  who  personally  prefers  a  full  arm  movement 
would  paint  the  titles  on  a  sheet  probably  4|  by  6  feet.  A  sign  writer 
who  prefers  to  use  a  small  brush  and  a  wrist  movement  would  work 
on  cards  probably  18  inches  by  24  inches.  In  either  case,  black  paint 
on  a  white  background  may  be  produced  as  such  in  the  finished  film 
picture,  or  it  may  be  reversed  by  the  photographer. 

A  very  satisfactory  title  is  produced  by  setting  up  the  words 
with  printer's  type  and  printing  the  title  upon  a  printing  press.  In 
such  a  case,  in  order  that  a  sharp  photograph  may  be  made,  the  original 
should  be  at  least  as  large  as  6  inches  by  8  inches. 

Where  movable  letters  are  used  for  titles,  it  is  necessary  only 
for  the  producer  to  give  to  the  photographer  a  written  title,  or  a 
sketch  of  the  word  arrangement  desired.  For  titles  in  the  nature 
of  messages,  letters,  telegrams,  etc.,  the  messages  may  be  printed 
with  printer's  script  type  and  handed  over  to  the  photographer. 
Such  a  title  probably  would  not  be  larger  than  3  inches  by  4  inches. 


110 


MOTOGRAPHY  43 

Written  messages  mav  be  prepared  just  as  the  picture  screen 
is  to  show  them,  written  by  hand  with  black  ink  upon  white  paper. 
The  handwriting  of  the  message  should  be  consistent  with  the 
character  of  the  actor  writing  it,  and  should  show  creases  if  the 
message  has  been  folded  in  the  motion  scenes  of  the  play.  For  tele- 
grams, use  the  regulation  telegraph  blank.  Use  a  "send"  blank  for 
messages  to  be  sent  and  a  "received"  blank  for  messages  received. 
They  may  be  written  either  by  hand  or  typewriter. 

Borders  for  titles  or  trademarks  for  titles  may  be  incorporated 
into  the  titles  by  drawing  or  printing  the  title  upon  sheets  which 
have  been  printed  previously  with  the  border  or  trademark. 

A  "reversed  title"  is  a  name  given  to  titles  having  the  letters 
show  in  white  upon  a  dark  picture  screen.  This  effect  is  obtained 
directly  by  painting  with  white  upon  a  black  background,  or  by 
arranging  movable  white  letters  upon  a  black  table,  but  it  may  be 
produced  from  black  letters  upon  a  white  ground  by  an  additional 
process  in  photographing.  It  is  not  suitable  of  course  for  messages. 
A  reversed  title  is  much  more  easily  read  and  is  much  more  accept- 
able to  the  audience  than  a  title  which  has  black  letters  upon  a  white 
ground.  The  reversed  title  is  further  improved  by  tinting. 

Final  Criticism.  The  titles  being  completed,  ,and  added  or 
changed  scenes  having  been  reproduced,  the  proof  for  the  first 
criticism  has  each  scene  cut  to  its  prescribed  length  and  proofs  of 
the  titles  are  cut  to  their  prescribed  length  and  inserted  among 
the  motion  scenes  in  the  order  required  by  the  revised  synopsis. 
Thus,  there  is  produced  a  final  proof  picture  of  the  complete  film 
as  it  is  to  be  released  to  the  public.  The  final  proof  is  projected  before 
the  producer  and  critics  and  if  approved  it  is  turned  over  to  the 
photographer  as  "copy."  The  photographer  cuts  his  negative  into 
lengths,  both  motion  scenes  and  titles,  splicing  them  together  to 
reproduce  a  complete  continuous  negative  of  the  approved  "copy." 

Whether  the  film  be  drama,  comedy,  travel,  chase,  or  trick, 
the  procedure  of  motion-scene  production,  first  criticism,  rewriting 
scrip,  making  titles,  final  proof,  and  approval  of  copy  is  on  final 
criticism  in  substance  the  same. 

At  this  point,  the  film  picture  passes  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
producer  and  into  the  hands  of  the  salesman,  or  advertising  mana- 
ger of  the  producing  company. 


Ill 


44  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

THE    SALESMAN 

The  salesman  of  the  film  manufacturing  company,  or  the  adver- 
tising manager,  as  his  title  usually  reads,  has  as  his  task  the  disposi- 
tion of  as  many  copies  of  the  finished  picture  (as  many  photographic 
prints  from  the  negative)  as  his  opportunity  and  ability  can  effect. 

Branches  of  the  Film  Industry.  The  customer  of  the  film  manu- 
facturer is  the  film  exchange  manager,  or  renter,  whose  customer 
in  turn  is  the  film  exhibitor.  The  film  industry  is  definitely  separated 
into  three  branches:  manufacturer,  renter,  and  exhibitor.  The  renter 
owns  the  picture  films.  He  buys  from  the  manufacturer  for  cash 
and  rents  the  films  to  the  owners  of  picture  theaters  for  exhibition. 
The  exhibitor  owns  no  films,  merely  renting  them  for  a  day  or  a 
week  from  the  renter;  the  manufacturer  owns  no  positive  picture 
films,  merely  printing  from  his  film  negatives  as  many  copies  of 
each  picture  as  can  be  disposed  of  immediately  to  his  customers, 
the  film  renters. 

Selling  Methods.  General  publicity  is  obtained  among  the 
renters  and  exhibitors  by 'advertising  in  the  motion-picture  magazines. 
In  the  magazine  advertisements,  the  general  excellence  of  the  manu- 
facturer's film  pictures  is  told,  and  the  current  film  pictures  just 
produced  or  about  to  be  produced  are  announced  by  title  with  a  few 
descriptive  words  and  illustrations. 

Lectures.  The  magazine  advertising  is  supplemented  by  lec- 
tures or  short  stories  of  the  film  pictures.  The  lectures  derive  their 
name  from  the  original  purpose,  which  was  to  provide  a  talk  to 
accompany  the  picture,  explaining  the  story  of  the  picture  as  the 
action  progressed  on  the  screen.  While  the  original  purpose  of  lec- 
tures is  almost  extinct,  their  advertising  value  remains  and  they 
are  used  by  manufacturers  in  large  quantities.  Each  film  picture 
has  its  lecture  and  these  are  printed  either  separately  or  in  a  little 
pamphlet  covering  the  manufacturer's  output  of  film  pictures  for 
the  week  or  for  two  weeks. 

The  lectures  are  written  by  the  salesman  or  his  assistants,  using 
the  corrected  synopsis  or  scrip  of  the  story  as  a  guide  and  keeping 
in  mind  at  all  times  the  film  as  actually  produced.  At  least  the 
motion  scenes  of  the  picture  should  be  produced  and  reviewed  by 
the  critics  before  the  film  is  advertised  for  release  and  before  the 


112 


MOTOGRAPHY  45 

lecture  is  written.  The  writer  of  the  lecture,  having  sat  at  the  pro- 
jection of  the  proofs  for  the  preliminary  review,  will  be  further  guided 
in  writing  the  lecture  by  his  recollection  of  the  strongest  scenes  of 
the  production.  The  lecture  is  illustrated  by  views  of  the  film  taken 
from  the  scenes  either  by  clipping  a  small  image  from  a  copy  of  the 
proof  film  or  by  photographing  the  scene  with  a  hand  camera  upon 
a  larger  scale  while  the  picture  is  being  produced.  In  either  case, 
the  engraver  is  able  to  produce  printing  blocks  of  the  desired  size 
for  the  lecture. 

Lectures  are  mailed  in  advance  of  the  release  date  of  the  film. 
They  are  sent  to  the  magazine  publishers  that  they  may  be  printed 
in  the  magazines  either  in  full  or  in  part,  for  additional  advertising 
value  to  the  manufacturer.  They  are  sent  to  the  film  exchanges 
that  the  renters  may  know  what  pictures  are  promised  for  the  ad- 
vance dates.  They  are  sent  to  the  exhibitors  that  the  exhibitors 
may  be  impressed  by  the  lecture  that  the  film  is  especially  suited  to 
their  particular  audiences  and  that  the  exhibitors  may  ask  the  renters 
for  the  picture  and  the  renter  thus  be  obliged  to  buy  the  film  from 
the  manufacturer. 

Release  Dates.  The  routine  of  manufacturing  and  selling  motion- 
picture  films  can  be  compared  very  closely  with  the  routine  of  print- 
ing and  selling  a  newspaper  or  magazine. 

The  amusement  business  is  established  upon  a  weekly  basis. 
In  theatrical  circles,  a  year  is  spoken  of  as  fifty-two  weeks,  and  a 
day  one-seventh  of  a  week.  The  big  theaters  change  their  bills  at 
the  end  of  the  week,  and  the  vaudeville  programs  are  changed  weekly 
Similarly,  in  the  motion-picture  theater,  the  program  is  made  upon 
a  weekly  basis,  the  film  renter  makes  his  schedules  upon  a  weekly 
basis,  and  it  best  suits  his  convenience  to  receive  his  films  from  the 
manufacturers  upon  a  weekly  schedule.  As  the  business  man  gets 
his  newspaper  every  morning,  so  the  prominent  "daily  change" 
motion-picture  theater  gets  its  new  film  every  morning  from  the 
renter,  who,  in  turn,  gets  films  every  morning  from  the  various  manu- 
facturers. Orders  are  placed  by  the  renter  on  a  basis  of  weekly 
deliveries,  that  his  schedule  may  run  smoothly.  Monday  morning 
brings  a  reel  from  manufacture7"  A,  Tuesday  a  reel  from  B,  Wednes- 
day a  reel  from  C,  Thursday  another  reel  from  A,  Friday  another 
reel  from  B,  and  Saturday  a  reel  each  from  D  and  E.  These  de- 


113 


46  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

liveries  are  repeated  weekly,  giving  a  constant  schedule  of  seven 
reels  per  week,  combining  the  product  of  several  manufacturers. 

In  view  of  the  deliveries  required  by  his  customer,  the  renter, 
the  manufacturer  is  obliged  to  issue  his  pictures  as  regularly  and 
as  punctually  as  a  publisher  issues  his  magazine  to  the  newsdealer. 
Each  film  manufacturer,  therefore,  establishes  one  or  more  release 
days  for  each  week,  according  to  the  number  of  reels  of  film  which 
he  will  manufacture  per  week,  and  advertises  that  a  full  reel  of  film 
will  be  sold  or  "released"  upon  each  of  his  release  days. 

Advance  Shipments.  It  has  been  found  convenient  to  release 
a  picture  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  upon  its  release  date,  and 
this  is  accomplished  by  advance  shipments  to  discount  the  time  in 
transit,  and  by  shipments  further  advanced  to  discount  the  likely 
delays  in  transit.  A  New  York  manufacturer  will  ship  his  pictures 
to  San  Francisco  customers  seven  days  in  advance  of  his  release 
date;  to  Denver  or  New  Orleans  customers  five  days  in  advance  of  his 
release  date;  to  his  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  customers  three  days  in  ad- 
vance; to  Philadelphia  and  Boston  customers  two  days  in  advance;  and 
will  deliver  by  messenger  to  New  York  customers  on  the  evening 
before  the  date  of  release.  In  the  case  of  the  distant  shipments,  the 
films  should  arrive  two  or  three  days  ahead  of  the  release  date,  but 
the  renter  is  honor  bound  to  issue  them  to  the  exhibitor  only  on  and 
after  the  release  date.  In  case  it  comes  to  the  attention  of  any 
manufacturer  that  any  renter  is  violating  the  release  date,  the 
advance  shipment  for  discounting  delays  in  transit  will  be  with- 
held. 

Factory  Schedule.  A  safe  schedule  for  insuring  the  release  of 
the  picture  film  to  the  renter  promptly  upon  the  release  date  carries 
the  beginning  of  the  work  of  making  the  film  back  to  a  date  many 
weeks  before  release.  A  picture  to  be  released  on  May  6,  if  manu- 
factured in  New  York,  must  be  shipped  to  the  San  Francisco  and 
Los  Angeles  customers  a  week  in  advance,  on  April  29.  The  photog- 
rapher must  have  time  in  advance  of  this  to  enable  him  to  print  the 
pictures  from  the  negative,  so  the  approved  "copy"  of  the  film  must 
be  delivered  to  the  photographer  on  April  22,  two  weeks  in  advance 
of  release  date,  that  he  may  fit  his  negative  to  the  "copy"  and  begin 
printing  in  time  for  the  west  coast  shipment.  Inasmuch  as  the  final 
criticism  may  require  changes  before  the  "copy"  is  approved,  the 


114 


MOTOGRAPHY  47 

projection  of  the  picture  for  final  criticism  is  set  for  April  15,  three 
weeks  in  advance  of  release  date.  Between  projection  of  the  motion 
scenes  for  preliminary  criticism  and  projection  for  final  criticism, 
one  week  is  not  sufficient  for  remaking  condemned  scenes,  produc- 
ing padding  scenes,  rewriting  the  scrip  and  making  the  titles.  Par- 
ticularly in  view  of  the  possibility  that  the  entire  picture  may  be 
rejected,  an  interval  of  three  weeks  is  none  too  short  between  pre- 
liminary review  and  final  review  in  the  ordinary  progress  of  the 
factory.  The  date  for  preliminary  criticism  is  set  for  six  weeks  in 
advance  of  release,  or  March  25  for  preliminary  criticism  for  the 
May  6  release.  For  ordinary  productions,  give  the  producer  a 
latitude  of  two  weeks  for  his  motion  scenes,  and  two  weeks  preced- 
ing for  preparation  of  his  scenery  and  properties,  taking  the  delivery 
of  the  scrip  to  the  producer  back  to  ten  weeks  in  advance  of  release 
date,  or  February  25,  for  the  release  of  May  6.  Still  back  of  this 
date  is  the  writing,  criticism,  and  acceptance  of  the  original  scrip. 
Some  pictures,  particularly  trick  pictures,  may  require  many  weeks 
for  the  production  of  the  motion  scenes. 

In  contrast  with  this  is  the  story  told  of  an  eastern  factory, 
that  an  actor  in  the  noon  hour  suggested  to  the  producer  a  thought 
for  a  comedy,  that  the  producer  dropped  the  work  in  hand  and  had 
the  first  scene  of  the  new  comedy  on  at  two  o'clock  the  same  after- 
noon, and  scenes  were  completed  for  a  full  comedy  reel  the  follow- 
ing day.  In  contrast  also  is  the  method  of  a  producer  who  habitually 
worked  without  scrip  or  scenario,  producing  only  his  own  creations, 
direct  from  brain  to  film. 

Sales  Contracts.  The  usual  order  accepted  by  the  manufac- 
turer from  the  renter  is  an  order  for  a  predetermined  number  of 
reels  per  week — usually  one  copy  of  each  picture  produced  by  the 
factory.  Such  an  order  gives  the  manufacturer  advance  knowl- 
edge of  the  quantity  of  his  output  and  it  is  by  such  orders  only  that 
a  manufacturer  is  enabled  to  work  upon  so  close  a  schedule  as  the 
one  cited — giving  but  two  weeks  between  the  final  approval  of  the 
"copy"  of  the  picture  to  the  release  date.  If  it  becomes  necessary 
for  the  salesman  to  exhibit  an  advance  copy  of  the  finished  picture 
as  a  means  for  getting  orders  for  the  films,  several  additional  weeks 
must  be  inserted  in  the  schedule  between  the  final  approval  of  the 
"copy"  and  the  date  of  the  release  of  the  film. 


115 


48  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Title  Posters.  To  advertise  his  program  to  the  passers-by, 
the  theater  manager — or  "exhibitor,"  as  he  is  known  in  the  trade 
— displays  the  titles  of  his  pictures  in  front  of  his  entrance.  The 
salesman  for  the  film  manufacturer  provides  for  attractive  posters 
for  the  films  released,  either  by  furnishing  them  to  the  exhibitor 
directly  through  the  film  exchange  to  whom  the  salesman  sells  the 
film,  or  by  providing  necessary  information  to  title  poster  com- 
panies to  enable  them  to  offer  attractive  title  posters  to  the  exhibitor. 

REPRODUCTION 
THE  PHOTOGRAPHER 

If  the  factory  is  to  be  considered  as  distinct  from  the  studio, 
and  from  the  office,  then  the  office  is  the  department  of  the  sales- 
man, the  studio  is  the  department  of  the  producer,  and  the  factory 
is  the  department  of  the  photographer.  "Factory  superintendent" 
perhaps  would  be  a  suitable  title  for  this  photographer,  for  he  does 
but  little  of  the  photographic  work  with  his  own  hands.  The  di- 
visions of  his  factory  taken  in  the  order  in  which  they  become  useful 
in  the  making  of  a  picture  film,  are  as  follows : 

Divisions  of  the  Photographic  Factory.  The  raw  sensitive  film 
is  purchased  cut  to  size  and  packed  in  tin  cans.  A  fireproof  iron 
safe  or  a  fireproof  vault  for  film  storage  holds  the  film  until  needed. 
From  the  vault,  it  is  taken  to  the  perforating  room,  where  holes  are 
punched  in  the  edges  Thence  the  negative  film  goes  to  the  camera 
man,  who  is  the  photographer's  employe  working  under  orders  of 
the  producer.  From  the  camera  man  the  exposed  film  goes  to  the 
developing  room,  where  it  is  developed  into  a  negative.  Then  titles 
are  made.  Scenes  and  titles  being  finally  approved  and  spliced 
up  according  to  "copy,"  the  film  negative  goes  to  the  printing  room 
and  supplies  of  positive  film  also  go  from  the  perforating  room  to 
the  printing  room,  where  the  positive  film  is  printed  from  the  negative. 
The  negative,  after  all  prints  are  made,  goes  to  the  film  storage 
room  permanently.  The  printed  positive  film  goes  from  the  print- 
ing room  to  the  developing  room  which  developed  the  negative, 
then  to  the  washing  room,  then  to  the  drying  room,  and  when  dry 
to  the  inspection  and  splicing  room  and  again  to  the  fireproof  storage 
vault  until  the  day  for  packing  and  shipment.  In  brief,  the  divisions 


118 


MOTOGRAPHY  49 

of  the  photographer's  factory  are  film  storage,  perforating,  camera, 
developing,  title  making,  printing,  washing,  drying,  inspecting,  and 
shipping.  The  strip  film  is  bought  ready  for  perforating. 

The  total  task  of  the  photographer — or  "factory  superintend- 
ent" or  whatsoever  title  he  may  bear  in  various  film  manufacturing 
plants — is  to  produce  a  creditable  photographic  film  picture  when 
the  producer  has  enacted  the  scenes  and  has  written  the  titles.  This 
task  requires  the  photographer  to  have  his  assistant,  the  camera 
man,  present  when  the  producer  enacts  a  scene,  and  leaves  the 
responsibility  upon  the  photographer — through  his  assistant,  the 
camera  man — for  the  proper  photographic  record  of  the  scene 
upon  the  negative  film  of  the  camera.  The  division  of  responsibility 
at  this  point  is  logical.  If  a  negative  is  lost  because  the  camera  man 
used  the  wrong  stop  in  the  lens,  the  failure  is  photographic  in  nature, 
and  the  photographer  is  to  blame  because  of  the  incompetency  of 
his  assistant.  From  this  point  to  the  delivery  of  the  film  for  shipment, 
the  processes  are  wholly  photographic.  The  photographer  assigns 
his  camera  men  to  the  producer  as  demanded,  providing  them  with 
negative  film,  and  delivers  proof  prints  to  the  producer  for  criticism. 
From  approved  proofs  and  picture  "copy,"  the  photographer  prints 
finished  film  pictures  as  requested,  and  delivers  them  by  shipping 
them  under  the  salesman's  orders. 

Raw  Film.  Composition.  The  sensitive  film  before  use  in  the 
camera  consists  of  a  long  narrow  strip  of  celluloid  coated  with  a 
gelatine  photographic  emulsion.  Its  manufacture  is  distinctly  in 
two  parts,  the  making  of  the  celluloid  strip  and  the  making  of  the 
sensitive  emulsion  and  coating  the  celluloid  strip  with  the  emulsion. 
Neither  the  making  of  the  celluloid  nor  the  coating  should  be  at- 
tempted except  by  skilled  workmen  in  a  thoroughly  equipped  factory. 

Manufacture.  Celluloid  is  made  from  pyroxylin  and  camphor, 
the  pyroxylin  or  guncotton  being  made  from  raw  cotton  by  treat- 
ing it  with  nitric  and  sulphuric  acids.  Sulphuric  and  nitric  acids 
are  mixed  in  practically  equal  quantities,  the  raw  cotton  is  dipped 
until  saturated  but  not  allowed  to  dissolve,  then  is  thoroughly  washed 
and  dried.  By  this  process  the  cotton  has  been  transformed  into 
guncotton,  an  article  very  explosive  in  nature,  but  not  different  in 
appearance  from  the  original  raw  cotton.  The  camphor  is  dis- 
solved in  alcohol,  making  a  saturated  solution. 


117 


50  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

A  layer  of  dry  pyroxylin  is  placed  in  a  tank  and  about  one- 
half  the  quantity  of  camphor  solution  is  sprinkled  over  it,  then 
pyroxylin,  then  camphor,  and  so  on.  The  pyroxylin  dissolves  in 
the  camphor  solution  and  celluloid  is  formed  in  lumps  which  sink 
to  the  bottom  of  the  tank.  The  lumps  of  celluloid  are  worked  be- 
tween rollers,  cold  and  hot,  and  pressed  in  hydraulic  presses  and 
dried. 

The  celluloid  stock  is  worked  into  thin  strips  for  motion-pic- 
ture work,  the  strips  being  1/200  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  The  width 
and  length  may  be  anything  desired,  say  22  inches  wide  by  200  feet 
long. 

Coating.  The  emulsion  for  coating  the  film  is  of  two  kinds, 
slow  for  prints  and  fast  for  negatives,  a  bromide  emulsion  for  the 
slow  and  a  nitrate  emulsion  for  Ihe  fast.  The  emulsion,  made  as 
for  photographic  dry  plates  or  hand-camera  films,  is  placed  in  a 
coating  machine  having  an  emulsion  hopper  and  a  slit  to  feed  the 
emulsion  upon  the  celluloid.  The  22-inch  strip  of  celluloid  is  passed 
at  a  uniform  speed  through  the  machine  and  under  the  emulsion 
slit,  receiving  a  uniform  coating  as  the  emulsion  flows  out  upon  it. 
The  wide  strip  of  film  is  dried  and  taken  through  a  cutting  machine 
which  splits  it  into  strips  If  inches  wide  and  200  feet  long.  The 
narrow  strips  are  rolled  up  and  packed  in  round  flat  tin  cans,  sealed 
with  adhesive  tape,  one  strip,  or  200  feet  of  film,  in  each  can.  It  is 
now  ready  for  delivery  to  the  motion-picture  manufacturer 

Non-Inflammable.  The  celluloid  base  of  the  motion-picture 
film  is  highly  inflammable,  although  not  explosive  in  that  it  will  not 
take  fire  unless  a  flame  is  applied  to  it  or  it  is  heated  to  a  very  high 
temperature  to  start  combustion.  The  heat  of  the  projecting  arc 
concentrated  upon  the  film  in  the  film  window  of  the  projecting  ma- 
chine is  sufficient  to  ignite  it.  When  ignited,  it  burns  rapidly 

Many  experiments  have  been  made  either  to  discover  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  inflammable  celluloid  for  use  in  motion-picture  work, 
or  to  discover  some  modification  of  the  process  )f  making  celluloid 
which  would  render  it  less  combustible.  By  adding  amyl  silicate 
or  methyl  silicate  to  the  vat  in  which  the  pyroxylin  and  camphor 
are  combined,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  silica  may  be  added  to  the 
celluloid  to  reduce  its  inflammability  so  that  it  will  bum  very  slowly, 
if  at  all.  The  addition  of  calcium  chloride  to  the  celluloid  com- 


118 


MOTOGRAPHY 


51 


pound  also  produces  a  similar  result.  The  finished  mass  of  new 
celluloid  while  still  soft  may  be  treated  with  stannous  chloride, 
.rendering  it  less  easily  combustible. 

A  non-inflammable  product  made  by  combining  camphor 
with  an  acetate  cellulose  instead  of  with  a  nitrate  cellulose,  or  pyroxy- 
lin, has  been  used  widely  as  a  substitute  for  the  inflammable  celluloid 
strip  for  motion  films.  This  is  the  "N.  I."  commercial  film,  and 
gives  satisfactory  service  for  a  short  life. 
Its  objectionable  point  is  that  with  age 
and  the  heat  of  the  projecting  arc  it 
shrinks  to  some  extent  and  becomes  some- 
what brittle. 

Storage  of  Film.  The  greatest  care 
must  be  taken  in  selecting  a  place  for  the 
storage  of  the  raw  film,  as  also  for  the 
storage  of  the  finished  pictures  before 
shipment,  and  for  the  storage  of  the  film 
negatives,  the  most  valuable  of  all,  par- 
ticularly during  the  period  between  pre- 
liminary approval  and  the  release  of  the 
picture.  The  storage  room  must  be  so 
situated  and  constructed  that  the  film  will 
be  kept  safe  from  flames  and  will  be  kept 
cool.  When  warm,  celluloid  gives  off  ex- 
plosive gases  rapidly.  A  vent  pipe  for 
such  gases  may  be  formed  by  a  pipe  of 
small  size  leading  to  the  open  air  and 
guarded  with  steel  wool  or  gauze  to  pre- 
vent backfiring. 

Perforation  of  Film.  The  standard 
perforation  is  four  holes  per  picture,  or 
rather  four  pairs  of  holes  per  picture. 
Each  hole  is  approximately  TV  inch  by 
JY  inch,  spaced  along  the  edges  of  the 
strip  of  film  at  a  distance  of  TST  inch 
apart,  making  four  holes  on  each  edge  for  each  f-inch  motion- 
picture  image.  The  photographic  images  being  1  inch  wide,  and 
the  film  strip  If  inch,  the  pictures  being  also  in  the  middle  of  the 


Fig.  10.     Specimen  of 
Positive  Film 


119 


52 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


strip,  there  remains  a  margin  of  T37  inch  on  each  side  of  the  strip 
for  the  feed  holes.  The  perforations  are  placed  in  this  margin,  not 
centrally  in  the  margin,  but  against  the 
side  of  the  image  to  leave  as  wide  an  edge 
of  celluloid  outside  of  the  perforations  as 
possible  to  strengthen  them  against  break- 
ing out  to  the  edge.  In  the  illustration  of 
a  specimen  of  picture  film,  Figs.  10  and  11, 
the  perforations  seem  to  encroach  upon  the 
photographic  images.  Indeed,  in  the  pro- 
jected picture  upon  the  screen,  the  edges 
of  the  perforations  sometimes  are  seen  at 
the  side  of  the  picture  because  of  a  lack  of 
proper  centering  of  the  film  in  the  project- 
ing machine. 

Shape.  The  three  shapes  of  perfora- 
tion commonly  used  are  known  as  round, 
square,  and  barrel.  They  are  illustrated  in 
Fig.  12.  The  square  and  barrel  holes  seem 
to  give  longer  life  to  the  film  than  the  hole 
having  the  round  form.  The  shape  of 
the  tooth  in  the  projecting  machine  which 
enters  the  film  perforation  and  by  which 
the  film  is  pulled  through  the  projecting 
machine  should  determine  the  shape  of  the 
hole.  The  tooth  most  commonly  met  has 
a  flat  pulling  face,  and  this  pulls  best 
against  the  flat  surface  edge  of  the  hole 
offered  by  the  shape  of  the  square  or  barrel 
perforation. 

Spacing.  The  sprocket  method  of  feed- 
ing the  film  allows  some  latitude  in  dis- 
tance of  perforations,  and  thus  cares  for 
slight  inaccuracies  in  the  perforating  ma- 
chines, and  for  the  variation  due  to  shrink- 

Flg.  11.     Negative  Film     Motion  age   °f   the    film    with   age   OT   with    its    treat' 

iHrtack^s^f'anrw'h^mentin  the  processes  of  development  and 
(Film  8how8  reverse  drying  after  leaving  the  perforator.      The 


120 


MOTOGRAPHY  53 

spacing  in  the  perforating  machine  should  be  T37  inch  per  hole,  and 
it  should  be  uniform.  Careful  experiment  has  shown  that  the  films 
whose  sprocket  holes  wear  best  are  those  whose  sprocket  holes  are 
most  uniformly  punched,  regardless  of  whether  they  have  main- 
tained their  original  distances  or  have  been  subjected  to  change  by 
development  processes  or  by  age.  If  the  holes  are  not  uniform, 
one  hole  edge  will  get  more  than  its  share  of  pull  from  the  sprocket 
teeth,  and  that  hole  will  break  out,  its  neighbors  then  getting  an 
excess  strain  and  breaking  in  turn  until  the  film  must  be  cut  and 
spliced.  The  splice  in  passing  through  the  film  gate  places  an  abnor- 
mal strain  upon  the  edges  of  the  perforations  in  advance  of  it  and 


Fig.  12.     Shapes  of  Film  Perforations 

which  have  to  pull  it  through  the  gate.  Thus  the  trouble  started  by 
uneven  punching  is  cumulative  and  shortens  the  life  of  the  film. 

Perforating  Machines.  Self-feeding  or  automatic  punch  presses 
for  punching  small  blanks  out  of  sheet  metal  may  be  seen  in  large 
machine  shops.  When  provided  with  proper  punches  and  dies 
they  become  suitable  for  perforating  motion-picture  film.  When 
the  punches  are  of  the  reciprocating  type,  a  group  of  eight  punches 
work  vertically  above  a  plate  having  holes  to  receive  the  punches 
and  having  guides  for  the  unperforated  strip  of  film.  Associated 
with  the  punches  are  two  "pilots,"  tapered  fingers,  which  come 
down  with  the  punches  and  pass  into  the  last  holes  of  the  film  strip, 
that  the  distance  from  the  last  holes  to  the  new  holes  about  to  be 
punched  may  be  exact.  An  intermittent  feed  device,  similar  to  that 
of  the  camera  or  projecting  machine,  works  into  the  holes  of  the 
perforated  end  of  the  film  and  pulls  it  forward  one  picture  length 
between  the  strokes  of  the  punch.  Punches  of  this  type  may  be 
operated  at  speeds  of  500  to  1,000  feet  of  film  per  hour.  Only  one 
strip  at  a  time  is  punched. 

In  the  case  of  rotary  punches,  two  drums  are  built,  one  of  which 


121 


54  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

has  in  its  face  recesses  corresponding  to  the  holes  of  the  finished 
film  and  the  other  of  which  has  teeth  to  match  the  recesses  of  the 
first  drum.  The  teeth  are  of  such  length  that  they  reach  to  the 
edge  of  the  recesses  of  the  companion  drum  but  do  not  enter.  The 
drums  are  revolved  in  unison  and  the  film  strip  is  passed  between 
them.  Revolving  brushes  keep  the  punched-out  pieces  from  follow- 
ing around  the  drums  and  entering  again.  Rotary  punches  are  of 
high  capacity,  being  able  to  perforate  film  at  a  rate  of  5,000  feet  or 
more  per  hour.  They  are  more  likely  to  get  out  of  accurate  adjust- 
ment than  the  reciprocating  punch,  and  are  more  difficult  to  sharpen 
when  dulled  by  service. 

Perforating  Room.  The  perforating  room  is  a  darkroom, 
photographically  dark  while  the  perforating  machines  are  working 
the  film.  It  is  only  when  all  film  is  safely  shut  in  the  tin  cans  that 
the  white  light  may  be  turned  on  or  the  door  opened.  It  has  a  "light- 
trap"  entrance,  or  in  the  wall  is  built  a  turntable  with  four  wings, 
like  the  revolving  doors  of  a  store  or  office  building,  encased  light 
tight,  with  a  window  into  the  turntable  inside  the  darkroom  and 
another  outside.  By  this  turntable,  a  few  cans  of  punched  film  may 
be  passed  out  on  demand  without  waiting  for  the  punching  machines 
to  finish  their  strips  of  film  to  permit  the  door  to  be  opened. 

Camera  Man.  Only  a  photographer  who  has  demonstrated 
his  ability  to  make  good  negatives  with  the  fixed  camera  under 
varying  conditions  should  attempt  to  qualify  for  the  position  of 
camera  man  with  a  motion-picture  factory.  Upon  the  camera  man, 
as  representative  of  the  factory  photographer,  rests  the  responsi- 
bility for  getting  a  good  negative  of  the  scene  enacted  by  the  pro- 
ducer. A  photographer  who  can  make  a  good  fixed  camera  negative 
of  the  scene  setting  can  acquire  easily  the  necessary  skill  in  turning 
the  camera  crank  at  a  uniform  rate  of  speed,  and  then  is  fully  com- 
petent to  make  a  thousand  motion-picture  images  of  the  same  scene 
while  the  action  of  the  scene  is  taking  place. 

Camera.  The  professional  motion-picture  camera  should  have 
the  following  features:  A  well-balanced  intermittent  movement, 
turning  smoothly  and  uniformly  in  all  crank  positions;  an  adjustable 
shutter,  adjustable  to  give  a  variable  ratio  between  the  "open  time" 
and  "closed  time"  of  the  film  window  for  each  revolution  of  the 
shutter,  that  is,  for  each  picture  made  upon  the  film  strip;  two  or 


129 


§1 

Si 


8?] 


MOTOGRAPHY  55 

more  lenses  fitting  into  the  same  mount  or  flange  ring,  the  lenses  being 
of  different  focal  length  for  changing  the  angle  of  the  view  or  the 
size  of  the  images  in  the  film  window  and  for  decreasing  or  increasing 
the  depth  of  the  field  for  action  in  the  scene;  focusing  mount  for  the 
lenses,  either  having  each  of  the  lenses  in  its  own  focusing  mount  or 
preferably  having  a  single  focusing  mount  into  which  any  one  of 
the  different  lenses  may  be  inserted;  a  sliding  lens  board,  equivalent 
to  the  rising  and  falling  front  of  the  fixed  camera;  detachable  light- 
tight  film  boxes,  equivalent  to  the  dark  slides  of  the  fixed  camera 
preferably  of  such  construction  that  the  film  boxes  may  be  inter- 
changed without  opening  the  mechanism  compartment  of  the  camera; 
a  trick  picture  crank;  a  reversing  crank  or  a  reversing  tripod  socket; 
a  detachable  main  crank  or  preferably  a  folding  main  crank;  a  level; 
a  finder  for  panoraming;  a  finder  for  focusing  window,  for  focusing 
without  opening  the  camera;  an  indicator  showing  the  amount  of 
film  used  and  unused  at  any  instant;  a  speed  indicator  showing  at 
any  instant  the  speed  (in  pictures  per  second)  at  which  the  camera 
is  being  turned ;  a  film  marker  which  may  be  operated  from  the  outside 
of  the  camera  to  mark  upon  the  film  an  indication  of  the  position 
of  the  film  window  upon  the  film;  a  stiff  tripod  with  panoram  head; 
a  carrying  case.  In  addition  to  providing  for  the  panoraming  move- 
ment or  horizontal  swinging  movement  of  the  camera  upon  the 
tripod,  the  tripod  head  sometimes  provides  for  a  rocking  movement 
of  the  camera  vertically. 

In  size,  motion-picture  cameras  vary  greatly,  even  when  built 
to  carry  the  standard  size  film,  If  inches  wide,  and  the  standard 
quantity  of  a  200-foot  reel.  The  comparative  size  of  camera  and 
man  is  seen  in  several  of  the  figures.  The  Urban  camera  is  about 
18  by  18  by  6  inches.  Others  have  been  made  showing  a  front 
6  by  10  and  a  depth  of  14  inches.  Some  cameras,  as  the  Urban, 
carry  the  film  boxes  inside  the  camera  case,  while  others  attach  the 
film  boxes  to  the  outside  of  the  case,  thus  making  the  size  of  the 
camera  case  alone  seem  deceptive  when  given  in  figures.  The  weight 
of  a  camera  will  vary  from  eight  to  twenty  pounds. 

Film  Movement.  Successful  cameras  have  been  built  by  con- 
structing a  light-tight  box  for  the  motion  head  of  a  projecting  machine. 
Such  an  arrangement  fills  all  requirements  although  it  may  make 
a  bulky  camera.  The  limitations  in  building  a  film  shift  for  a  camera 


123 


56  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

are  less  rigid  than  those  placed  upon  the  projecting  machine,  because 
of  the  shorter  period  of  rest.  In  the  projecting  machine,  the  film 
must  be  at  rest  for  at  least  eighty  per  cent  of  the  time,  and  must 
be  shifted  in  the  remaining  twenty  per  cent  of  the  picture  interval. 
In  the  camera,  the  intermittent  mechanism  may  be  such  as  to  use 
forty  per  cent  of  the  picture  interval  in  movement  if  desired. 

The  margin  of  safety  for  a  good  picture  in  a  camera  is  of  greater 
importance  than  in  a  projecting  machine.  If  the  projecting  machine 
is  out  of  order,  it  is  known  immediately  by  the  result  upon  the  screen, 
and  the  machine  is  adjusted.  If  the  camera  is  in  any  way  out  of 
order,  it  is  known  only  when  the  films  are  developed  at  the  end  of 
the  day's  work,  with  the  result  that  the  day's  work  must  be  done 
over  by  the  producer. 

The  film  in  the  camera  must  be  motionless  during  the  interval 
of  exposure  to  the  lens.  The  claw  type  of  intermittent  movement 
seems  well  adapted  to  this  end,  since  the  claws  may  advance  into 
the  perforations,  seize  and  pull  down  the  film  and  retire  from  the 
perforations  entirely,  leaving  the  film  entirely  out  of  contact  with 
the  film  shifting  mechanism  and,  therefore,  to  the  greatest  degree 
unaffected  by  the  driving  devices  which,  were  there  any  actual  con- 
tact between  the  driving  devices  and  film,  might  cause  a  slight  move- 
ment. During  the  period  of  rest  of  the  film  the  claws  return  to  the 
position  from  which  they  advance  into  the  perforations  to  give  the  film 
its  next  step,  and  during  this  interval  the  exposure  of  the  film  to  the 
lens  is  made.  That  the  claw-shift  mechanism  subjects  the  film  to 
greater  wear  than  the  sprocket  movement  becomes  of  less  import- 
ance in  the  camera  than  in  the  projecting  machine,  since  the  film  is 
run  through  the  camera  but  once. 

In  addition  to  the  Edison  camera,  using  the  sprocket  with 
perforated  film  strip,  and  the  Urban,  Gaumont,  and  many  others 
using  the  claw  movement  with  perforated  film  strip,  all  of  which 
use  intermittent  movement  of  the  film,  there  are  two  other  classes 
of  cameras — those  which  do  not  use  the  intermittent  film  movement 
and  those  which  do  not  use  the  perforated  film.  The  object  in  the 
use  of  cameras  avoiding  the  perforated  film  and  the  intermittent 
movement  usually  is  found  in  an  intent  to  avoid  patents  bearing 
upon  those  features.  The  Bianchi  camera,  used  by  Columbia 
licensees,  makes  pictures  upon  a  continuously  moving  film.  The 


124 


MOTOGRAPHY  57 

Hamacek  camera  uses  an  unperforated  film,  the  film  being  perforated 
after  development  of  the  negative. 

Loading  Film  Holders.  Each  film  holder  consists  of  a  black 
box  of  thin  wood  with  door  and  spindle.  One  side  of  the  box  opens 
as  a  door,  either  hinged  or  entirely  removable.  The  spindle  or  hub 
passes  through  both  sides  of  the  box,  back  and  door,  turning  in 
journal  boxes  carried  by  the  back  and  the  door,  and  usually  being 
removable  from  the  box  merely  by  lifting  out  when  the  door  is  open. 
The  hub  has  a  clip  or  slot  for  attaching  the  end  of  the  film,  so  that 
the  film  may  be  wound  upon  the  hub  when  the  hub  is  turned.  Upon 
the  end  of  the  hub— usually  upon  that  end  which  projects  through 
the  back  of  the  film  holder,  but  in  the  case  of  the  removable  hub 
the  two  ends  should  be  alike — is  a  key  way  whereby  the  film  move- 
ment of  the  camera  may  engage  the  hub  and  turn  it  to  wind  up  the 
film.  The  key  is  a  slot  or  a  pair  of  holes  for  pins,  and  in  the  camera 
at  the  position  for  the  take-up  film  holder  is  a  key  corresponding  to 
the  key  way. 

The  negative  film  will  be  supplied  from  the  factory  storage 
vault  in  rolls  of  200  feet,  perforated,  rolled  with  an  open  center 
a  little  larger  than  the  hub  of  the  film  box  of  the  camera,  and  packed 
in  a  round,  flat  tin  can  sealed  with  adhesive  tape.  In  loading  an 
empty  film  holder,  it  is  necessary  only  to  open  the  door  of  the  holder, 
open  the  tin  box  (in  the  darkroom),  drop  the  roll  of  film  over  the 
spindle,  pass  the  end  of  the  film  through  the  slot  of  the  holder,  and 
close  the  holder. 

In  reloading  a  film  holder  containing  exposed  film,  the  proc- 
esses are  different,  depending  upon  whether  the  holder  has  a  remov- 
able spindle  or  hub,  and  whether  an  extra  hub  is  at  hand  for  reloading 
the  removable  hub  type  of  box.  When  the  removable  hub  type  of 
film  holder  is  used,  the  factory  should  provide  an  extra  hub  with  each 
roll  of  negative  film,  packing  it  in  the  tin  box  in  the  hollow  center 
of  the  film  roll.  To  reload,  the  camera  man  opens  (in  the  darkroom) 
both  tin  film  box  and  camera  film  holder,  removes  the  new  film 
from  the  box,  lifts  the  exposed  film  from  the  camera  film  box  to  the 
tin  box  without  removing  the  hub,  upon  which  the  film  is  wound 
tightly,  and  seals  the  tin  box  with  the  adhesive  tape.  He  then  fits 
the  new  hub  to  the  film  holder,  drops  the  new  roll  of  film  over  it, 
threads  the  end  of  the  film  through  the  slot,  and  closes  the  film  holder. 


125 


58  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

In  reloading  the  film  holder  in  which  the  hub  is  not  removable, 
the  camera  man  must  have  a  film  winder,  winding  the  film  out  of 
the  holder,  then  changing  the  new  roll  of  film  from  the  tin  box  to 
the  film  holder,  and  then  the  exposed  film  from  the  winder  to  the 
tin  box. 

Exposed  and  Unexposed  Films.  Safeguards  are  necessary  to 
avoid  the  accidental  exposure  of  the  same  film  twice  in  the  camera, 
either  from  the  mistake  of  putting  an  exposed  film  holder  back  in 
the  camera  or  from  the  mistake  of  reloading  an  exposed  film  from 
its  tin  box  back  into  the  film  holder  and  thence  to  the  camera.  In 
short,  there  should  be  some  signal  to  indicate  that  the  roll  of  film 
has  been  exposed,  similar  to  the  turning  of  the  dark  slide  of  a  plate- 
holder. 

The  outside  end  of  an  unexposed  roll  should  have  its  corners 
clipped  to  facilitate  threading  through  the  camera  when  loading- 
The  inner  end  should  be  left  square.  A  roll  with  the  outer  end 
square,  therefore,  is  an  exposed  roll. 

When  the  film  holder  is  loaded,  the  leading  end  of  the  film  is 
threaded  through  the  slot  of  the  holder,  and  projects  to  be  pulled 
out  and  threaded  up  in  the  camera.  When  the  roll  is  exposed,  it  is 
wound  up  completely  into  the  take-up  holder,  so  that  the  end  of  the 
film  does  not  extend  from  the  exposed  holder. 

In  a  camera  having  holders  with  removable  spindles  or  hubs, 
the  exposed  roll  of  film  will  have  a  hub  in  its  center  upon  which  the 
film  is  tightly  wound.  The  unexposed  film  will  have  the  hub  in  the 
tin  box,  perhaps,  but  the  film  will  not  be  tight  upon  it. 

In  a  camera  without  removable  spindles,  a  roll  of  film  which 
has  been  removed  by  the  camera  man  in  reloading,  probably  will 
have  a  different  size  of  center  hole  from  the  roll  received  from  the 
factory  film  storage  room. 

Tin  boxes  containing  unexposed  negative  film  in  the  factory 
storage  room  should  be  wrapped  in  paper  and  the  wrapper  pasted 
shut  so  that  the  paper  must  be  torn  to  get  it  off.  When  reloading 
film  holders,  the  camera  man  does  not  wrap  the  tin  cans  of  exposed 
film,  hence  the  only  fresh  film  the  camera  man  has  is  the  film  in 
the  wrapped  boxes  and  in  the  film  holders  with  the  leading  end  stick- 
ing out. 

In  addition  to  all  other  precautions,  the  exposed  film  should  be 


120 


MOTOGRAPHY  59 

sent  in  to  the  factory  as  soon  as  exposed,  but  even  then  the  factory 
may  send  back  an  exposed  roll  to  the  camera  man,  and  danger  sig- 
nals should  be  watched  for. 

For  studio  work  and  field  work  close  to  the  factory,  film  holders 
may  be  loaded  in  the  factory  darkroom.  Where  the  camera  man 
is  in  a  distant  city  or  still  worse  in  the  country,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  transfer  film  from  tin  cans  to  camera  film  holders  when  no  dark- 
room is  available.  A  bedroom  closet  will  serve  if  an  assistant  out- 
side will  hang  clothing  or  bed  clothing  over  the  cracks  of  the  door 
until  the  camera  man  inside  can  see  no  light.  Kneeling  on  the  floor 
at  the  bedside  with  the  hands  (and  films  and  boxes)  under  the  covers, 
either  at  night  or  with  shades  drawn  and  a  bed  cover  hung  over  the 
window,  the  camera  man  may  work  by  touch.  Have  an  empty 
tin  can  and  as  a  first  operation  transfer  the  film  to  the  can  and  as  a 
second  operation  transfer  the  film  from  a  new  can  to  the  film  holder. 
In  the  field,  if  the  emergency  arise,  take  off  the  coat  and  shove  the 
arms  through  the  sleeves  the  wrong  way,  changing  the  film  inside 
the  coat.  An  assistant  supplies  the  film  and  boxes  to  the  hands  in- 
side the  coat,  and  muffles  it  further  by  any  available  clothing.  Get 
in  the  deepest  shadow  available.  For  all  these  emergency  methods 
it  may  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  roll  of  film  is  largely  self-protecting. 
On  the  sides  of  the  roll,  the  light  must  penetrate  3/16  inch  before 
reaching  the  latent  images,  the  inner  layers  are  light-struck  by  the 
acts  of  loading  the  camera  and  they  serve  to  protect  the  following 
layers,  while  on  the  outer  layers  there  may  be  left  several  layers  of 
unused  film  for  protection  if  the  emergency  reloading  is  known  in 
advance. 

Loading  the  Camera.  The  loading  of  the  camera  is  an  opera- 
tion designed  for  daylight  work.  It  is  no  more  difficult  than  thread- 
ing a  film  through  a  projecting  machine.  The  full  take-up  film  holder 
is  removed.  The  empty  film  holder  is  taken  from  the  feed  position 
and  fastened  securely  in  the  take-up  position,  the  hub  being  connected 
with  the  mechanism  of  the  camera,  and  the  handle  given  a  few  turns 
to  ascertain  that  the  hub  is  turning  properly  to  take  up  the  exposed 
film.  A  loaded  filmholder  then  is  placed  in  the  feed  position  and 
the  end  of  the  film  pulled  out  to  reach  the  feed  mechanism.  A 
brush  should  be  attached  to  the  inside  of  the  camera  door  by  a  spring 
clip,  and  the  inside  of  the  camera,  particularly  the  film  window, 


127 


60 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


should  be  brushed  carefully  to  remove  minute  particles  of  celluloid 
or  other  dust  particles  left  by  the  previous  roll  of  film  in  passing 
through  the  machine.  The  new  film  then*  is  passed  through  the 
upper  steady  feed,  through  the  intermittent  feed,  and  through  the 
lower  steady  feed,  to  the  take-up  film  holder,  passed  through  the 
slot  of  the  holder  and  attached  to  the  take-up  hub.  The  take-up 
holder  is  closed,  and  the  handle  is  given  a  turn  to  make  sure  that  the 
film  is  feeding  properly  and  that  the  take-up  holder  is  working  prop- 

erly. The  camera  ease  then  is  closed 
and  the  handle  is  turned  once  or 
twice  as  required  to  wind  past  the 
film  window  that  length  of  film  be- 
tween the  feed  film  box  and  the  film 
window  which  has  been  light-struck 
by  -exposure  during  the  loading  of 
the  camera. 

In  Fig.  13  is  shown  the  Urban 
camera,  with  panoraming  and  ele- 
vating or  rocking  tripod  head.  The 
door  at  the  left  on  the  side  gives 
access  to  the  film  holders  and  feeds 
for  reloading  the  camera;  the  re- 
movable panel  in  front  gives  access 
to  the  intermittent  mechanism.  Fig. 
14  shows  the  Gaumont  camera,  open. 
In  this  camera  the  upper  and  lower 
constant  feeds  are  taken  from  the 
same  sprocket,  the  intermittent  feed 
mechanism  being  enclosed  in  a 
dust-proof  box  at  the  front  of  the 
camera.  The  feed  and  take-up  reels  are  external  to  the  camera  body 
and  have  a  very  large  capacity,  500  feet. 

Camera  Man's  Duties.  Taking  the  Picture.  To  set  up  his 
camera  when  instructed  by  the  producer,  to  include  the  scene  pointed 
out  by  the  producer,  to  begin  turning  and  to  stop  turning  when  told 
by  the  producer,  to  keep  his  camera  in  adjustment,  to  keep  an  ample 
supply  of  film  for  the  producer's  requirements,  and  to  turn  over  to 
the  factory  a  correctly  exposed  roll  of  film  having  upon  it  a  record 


Fig.  13.     Urban  Camera 


128 


MOTOGRAPHY  61 

of  the  producer's  scene  from  the  word  "start"  to  the  word  "stop." 
Turning  Crank.  At  the  top  of  the  illustration  of  the  Urban 
camera  is  a  round  window  in  which  a  finger  moves  over  a  scale 
marked  10-12-14-16.  When  the  handle  is  turned,  this  hand  in- 
dicates the  number  of  pictures  per  second  which  are  being  taken. 
The  usual  speed  is  fourteen  pictures  per  second.  Turning  the  crank 
at  a  uniform  speed  of  fourteen  pictures  per  second,  without  varia- 
tion in  the  speed  and  without  shaking  the  camera  upon  its  tripod, 


Fig.  14.    Gaumont  Camera 

can  be  done  only  after  much  practice.  Variations  are  liable  to  occur 
in  every  turn,  the  inexperienced  camera  man  turning  faster  as  the 
handle  comes  down  and  not  so  fast  as  it  is  passing  backward  at  its 
lowest  position.  They  are  liable  to  occur  also  by  steady  increase  or 
decrease  of  speed,  starting  a  scene  at  fourteen  and  finishing  it  at 
the  rate  of  ten  or  eighteen  pictures  per  second.  When  the  actors 
are  playing  their  parts  in  the  scene,  the  producer  is  prompting  them 
and  the  action  becomes  interesting  or  exciting,  the  new  camera 


129 


62  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

man  is  liable  to  become  interested  or  excited  also  and  either  turn  the 
crank  so  fast  that  his  negative  is  spoiled  or  forget  to  turn  it  at  all. 

Practice  may  be  had  by  turning  the  camera  crank  without  film. 
The  length  of  exposure  is  dependent  upon  the  speed  of  the  crank. 
If  the  crank  is  turned  faster  as  it  comes  down,  the  exposure  will  be 
shorter  for  the  picture  made  then,  and  in  the  negative  every  fifth  or 
sixth  or  eighth  picture  will  be  under-exposed  as  compared  with  the 
remainder  of  the  negative.  Such  a  negative  cannot  be  used  because 
a  print  from  it  would  show  similar  variations  and  the  result  for  the 
audience  viewing  the  projected  picture  would  be  disagreeable. 

The  crank  must  be  turned  without  shaking  the  camera.  If 
the  operator  throws  his  weight  upon  the  crank  in  any  part  of  the 
turn,  the  tripod  will  yield  slightly  and  change  the  view  in  the  film 
window  by  shifting  it  slightly  up  or  down  or  sideways.  This  shift- 
ing will  occur  periodically  with  each  turn  of  the  crank  and  the 
result  is  a  strange  waving  or  surging  effect  in  the  projected  picture. 
To  turn  a  crank  uniformly  in  all  parts  of  its  revolution,  the  elbow 
may  be  placed  in  line  with  the  center  of  the  crank  shaft  and  the 
crank  turned  with  a  movement  of  the  forearm  only,  keeping  the 
elbow  still.  In  this  way,  the  operator's  weight  is  not  thrown  upon 
the  crank  and  a  steady  rate  is  obtained. 

The  beginner  must  keep  his  eye  on  the  speed  gauge  until  turn- 
ing becomes  automatic.  If  there  is  no  speed  gauge,  the  best  plan 
is  to  count  while  turning,  and  not  to  look  at  all  at  the  action  in  the 
scene. 

Cameras  have  been  built  to  give  three,  four,  five,  six,  or  eight 
pictures  for  one  turn  of  the  crank.  Four,  six,  and  eight  are  in  com- 
mon use.  The  number  of  pictures,  not  the  number  of  turns  of  the 
crank,  is  the  end  desired,  and  this  means  different  crank  speeds  for 
different  cameras.  With  eight  pictures  per  turn — the  speed  most 
commonly  met  in  modern  professional  cameras — fourteen  pictures 
per  second  are  obtained  by  turning  the  crank  at  the  rate  of  105  turns 
per  minute;  at  six  pictures  per  turn  the  crank  speed  required  is 
140  turns  per  minute.  Many  watches  tick  five  ticks  per  second, 
300  ticks  per  minute.  Get  a  watch  ticking  300  per  minute  and 
learn  to  count  one-two-three,  one-two-three,  one-two-three,  just 
as  fast  as  the  watch  ticks,  turning  the  crank  one  turn  for  every  one- 
two-three,  and  the  crank  speed  will  be  one  hundred  turns  per  min- 


130 


MOTOGRAPHY  63 

lite,  which  is  near  the  proper  speed  for  an  eight-picture  camera. 
Count  one-two,  one-two,  one-two,  for  the  ticks  of  the  watch  and 
turn  the  crank  of  a  six-picture  camera  one  turn  for  each  one-two. 
Useful  practice  may  be  had  by  turning  the  crank  and  holding  the 
watch  to  the  ear,  a  plan  feasible  even  when  actually  taking  pictures 
in  the  field.  The  greatest  precautions  must  be  taken  by  the  new 
camera  man  to  prevent  the  action  of  the  scene  taking  his  atten- 
tion from  the  crank. 

When  the  trick  handle  is  used,  it  is  to  be  turned  at  the  same 
speed  as  the  main  handle,  as  though  the  full  number  of  pictures 
were  being  taken. 

To  secure  the  best  results  with  the  panoram  handle,  it  should 
be  operated  by  an  assistant,  but  with  practice  passable  results  may 
be  obtained  by  one  operator,  turning  the  picture  crank  with  one 
hand  while  he  turns  the  panoram  handle  at  a  different  rate  of  speed 
with  the  other  hand. 

Setting  up  Camera.  The  camera  must  be  rigid  upon  its  tripod, 
and  it  must  be  level.  A  level  may  be  built  into  the  camera  case,  or 
a  small  pocket  level  placed  upon  the  top  of  the  camera  will  serve, 
the  level  being  tried  both  crosswise  and  lengthwise  of  the  top  of 
the  camera.  To  "find"  the  view  properly  it  may  be  necessary  to 
tip  the  camera  front  up,  but  only  ludicrous  results  will  be  obtained 
when  the  camera  is  not  level  crosswise.  In  the  absence  of  a  level, 
step  back  a  few  feet  from  the  camera  and  "sight"  it  against  the 
horizon  line  or  some  neighboring  building.  It  is  almost  the  uni- 
versal rule  in  making  pictures  of  dramatic  action  with  natural  set- 
tings to  set  the  camera  upon  a  portable  platform  probably  4  feet 
high,  thus  bringing  the  lens  of  the  camera  above  the  heads  of  the 
actors  and  of  passers-by.  This  elevation  also  enables  the  camera 
man  to  arrange  his  image  with  the  horizon  line  above  the  top  line 
of  the  picture  and  thus  cut  out  any  signboards,  fences,  aud  houses 
of  the  extreme  background. 

Lens  Length.  The  standard  length  for  moving  picture  lenses 
is  3  inches.  This  gives  an  angle  of  view  of  about  twenty  degrees; 
a  2-inch  lens  gives  an  angle  of  about  thirty  degrees.  The  camera 
must  include  in  its  film  window  as  much  of  the  scene  as  the  pro- 
ducer desires,  and  the  producer  must  know,  particularly  in  a  natural 
setting,  just  where  the  limit  lines  of  his  scene  are  located,  that  he 


131 


64  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

may  keep  his  actors  in  the  film  window  when  they  are  supposed 
to  be  in  the  scene.  More  of  the  immediate  foreground  may  be  in- 
cluded in  the  film  window  image  by  moving  the  camera  stand  back, 
but  where  this  cannot  be  done  a  similar  result  may  be  had  by  sub- 
stituting the  2-inch  lens  for  the  regular  3-inch  lens.  When  too  much 
of  the  foreground  is  included,  the  camera  may  be  moved  forward 
or  a  4-inch  lens  may  be  substituted.  The  camera  man  whose  camera 
has  but  one  lens  will  find  himself  at  his  wits  end  sometimes  to  include 
in  the  view  just  what  the  producer  wants  and  no  more.  The  most 
useful  lenses  are  the  standard  (3-inch)  and  the  "wide-angle"  (2- 
inch).  Lenses  of  5-inch  focus  or  longer  are  useful  only  in  travel 
work  for  taking  scenes  and  views  of  objects  which  cannot  be  ap- 
proached closely,  and  for  making  pictures  of  trick  or  spectacular 
nature.  Lenses  of  great  focal  length  will  require  extension  mount- 
ing tubes,  since  there  is  no  bellows  extension  for  the  increase  of 
distance  between  the  lens  and  the  film  window. 

Focusing.  The  motion-picture  camera  has  no  bellows,  but  is 
focused  by  sliding  the  lens  in  its  mount.  The  barrel  may  have  a 
rack  and  pinion  with  knob  for  racking  the  lens  in  and  out,  or  the 
lens  may  be  mounted  in  a  screw  flange  and  may  be  moved  back- 
ward and  forward  by  turning  the  lens  in  the  mount.  A  limited 
movement  only  is  thus  obtained  as  compared  with  the  movement 
of  the  bellows  of  a  fixed  camera;  but  in  the  motion-picture  camera 
the  very  short  focal  lengths  of  the  lenses  require  but  small  move- 
ment for  their  maximum  adjustment  for  focus. 

It  is  convenient  to  have  the  lens  mount  so  arranged  that  when 
the  lens  is  as  far  back  as  possible,  at  the  limit  of  its  motion,  it  is  in 
universal  focus  for  its  largest  or  most  commonly  used  aperture. 
By  "universal"  focus  is  meant  that  position  of  the  lens  in  which 
distant  objects  are  in  focus  upon  the  screen,  nearer  objects  being 
to  some  extent  blurred.  At  //16,  objects  from  the  extreme  distance 
and  up  to  30  feet  from  the  camera  are  all  in  focus  with  the  proper 
adjustment;  with  //32,  objects  up  to  20  feet;  at  //6.3,  objects  up  to 
100  feet.  The  lens  position  for  universal  focus  depends  upon  the 
diaphragm  stop  used. 

In  a  crude  camera  it  may  be  necessary  to  open  the  camera 
case  and  focus  by  looking  directly  upon  the  film  window.  The 
camera  should  have  a  focusing  window  for  enabling  the  operator 


132 


MOTOGRAPHY  65 

to  see  the  image  in  the  film  window  without  opening  the  camera. 
This  window  may  be  either  in  front  of  the  film  or  back  of  the  film, 
and  of  course  must  be  closed  after  focusing  to  prevent  leakage  of 
light  to  the  film  while  being  exposed  by  the  crank.  As  the  dis- 
tance from  the  focusing  peephole  to  the  image  in  the  film  window 
is  several  inches,  it  is  customary  to  have  a  lens  for  focusing  which 
both  enlarges  the  image,  making  accurate  focus  easier,  and  inverts 
the  image  so  that  the  view  is  seen  right  side  up. 

Focusing  may  be  done  either  upon  the  sensitive  film  which 
has  been  threaded  through  the  camera  mechanism,  or  a  piece  of  very 
thin  ground  glass  or  of  celluloid  which  has  had  its  surface  "ground" 
similar  to  ground  glass,  which  may  be  placed  in  the  film  window  for 
focusing,  being  removed  and  the  film  threaded  up  after  focusing. 
Particularly  for  work  in  a  city  street  is  it  desirable  for  the  operator 
to  set  up  his  camera,  get  his  field  and  focus,  and  be  ready  to  turn 
in  the  shortest  possible  interval,  and  particularly  for  such  work 
will  the  dead  stop  for  universal  focus  be  found  desirable. 

Control  of  Image.  Aside  from  lens  length  and  point  of  view, 
the  operator  has  the  sliding  lens  board,  the  equivalent  of  the  rising 
and  falling  front  of  the  fixed  camera.  The  short  focal  length  of 
the  lenses  used  requires  caution  in  using  the  sliding  lens  board, 
since  the  definition  of  the  image  is  sacrificed  when  the  center  field 
of  the  lens  is  not  used.  The  sliding  front  may  be  assisted  by  tipping 
the  camera  slightly  when  the  resulting  distortion  is  not  objectionable. 

The  camera  man's  most  powerful  element  of  control  of  image 
is  found  in  the  selection  of  the  point  of  view,  and  his  tactful  control 
of  the  producer  in  avoiding  objectionable  camera  positions  and  in 
obtaining  such  camera  stands  as  will  lend  some  pictorial  value  to 
the  images  of  the  film  window. 

Shutter.  The  disk  shutter  is  universal  for  cameras.  A  disk  of 
thin  sheet  metal  revolves  in  a  plane  between  the  lens  and  the  sensitive 
film  in  the  film  window.  An  opening  is  cut  in  the  shutter,  or  a  part 
of  the  disk  is  cut  away,  and  the  light  is  cut  off  from  the  film  by  the 
shutter  except  while  the  opening  is  passing  the  lens.  The  opening 
is  adjustable. 

Such  a  shutter  usually  is  made  of  two  half-disks  mounted  upon 
a  shutter  shaft;  by  setting  these  exactly  over  each  other,  the  shutter 
will  be  "half  open,  half  closed,"  or  by  adjusting  them  upon  each 


66  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

other  the  open  space  may  be  reduced  to  any  desired  fraction  of  the 
"open"  area.  Some  shutters  are  provided  with  adjustments  whereby 
the  shutter  exposure  may  be  changed  while  the  camera  is  being 
turned.  This  is  objectionable  because  it  renders  the  shutter  more 
liable  to  getting  out  of  adjustment  accidentally. 

Exposure  Time.  The  usual  exposure  is  "three-eighths  open." 
When  taking  pictures  at  the  rate  of  fourteen  per  second,  this  figures 
out  |  of  1/14  of  a  second,  1/37  second,  or  27/1000  second,  that  the 
lens  is  open.  The  photographer  experienced  with  shutter  efficiencies 
in  fixed  camera  work  may  note  that  this  is  an  actinic  value  and  not 
a  mechanical  value,  and  that  the  exposure  mechanically  is  corre- 
spondingly of  greater  value  than  the  figures  seem  to  show. 

One-thirty-seventh  of  a  second  actinic  value  is  much  more 
than  the  average  of  snap-shot  hand  camera  exposures.  It  is  a  longer 
exposure  than  would  be  possible  with  the  fixed  camera  for  moving 
objects  and  longer  than  is  customary  with  hand  cameras.  Moving 
objects  will  show  a  blur  in  the  negative;  when  projected  upon  the 
picture  screen,  the  blurred  object  of  one  image  will  fade  into  the 
same  blurred  object  in  a  different  position  in  the  next  image,  and 
smooth  motion  will  be  simulated,  the  object  becoming  sharp  again 
when  its  motion  becomes  slower. 

Exposure  Control.  The  time  or  length  of  exposure  being  fixed 
by  the  mechanical  limitations  of  the  art  of  the  motion  picture,  and 
the  negative  film  being  of  but  one  available  speed  or  sensitiveness,  the 
sole  means  remaining  to  the  camera  operator  for  adjusting  his  ex- 
posure value  is  the  diaphragm  stop.  If  the  light  is  poor,  the  stop 
must  be  opened,  and  if  the  stop  at  its  full  does  not  give  enough  light, 
the  picture  cannot  be  made  unless  by  "trick"  processes.  In  the 
matter  of  limiting  quantity  of  light,  however,  two  elements  come 
to  the  relief  of  the  motographer.  First,  because  the  negative  is  to 
be  used  for  printing  a  transparency,  a  negative  may  be  of  value 
which  would  be  useless  for  opaque  paper  prints;  and  second,  the 
motion  in  the  projected  film  picture  will  keep  the  attention  of  the 
spectator  on  the  high  lights  and  cause  him  to  overlook  the  lack  of 
detail  in  the  shadows.  Successful  motion  pictures  may  be  obtained 
from  exposures  so  low  in  light  value  that  nothing  but  failure  could 
result  with  the  fixed  camera. 

As  the  diaphragm  stop  is  the  only  variable  element  available 


134 


MOTOGRAPHY 


87 


to  the  motographer,  Table  I  has  been  prepared  giving  the  proper 
diaphragm  stop  for  each  day  and  hour  of  the  year,  Eastman  film 
(Watkins  250,  Wynne  111),  f  open,  14  pictures  per  second  (1/37 
second),  latitude  of  the  northern  part  of  the  United  States: 


TABLE  I 
Exposure  Chart 


Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 
June 
July 

Aug. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

5  A.M. 

/.8 

6  A.M. 

//8 

//H 

//16 

//H 

//8 

7  A.M. 

//4 

7/11 

//1  6 

//22 

//22 

//22 

//16 

//H 

//4 

//4 

8  A.M. 

//H 

//16 

//22 

//22 

//22 

//22 

//22 

//16 

//ll 

//H 

9  A.M. 

//16 

//22 

//22 

//32 

//32 

//32 

//22 

//22 

//16 

//16 

10  A.M. 

to 

2   P.M. 

//22 

//32 

//32 

//45 

//45 

//45 

//32 

//32 

//22 

//22 

3   P.M. 

//16 

//22 

//22 

//32 

//45 

//45 

//32 

//32 

//16 

//16 

4   P.M. 

//H 

//16 

//22 

//22 

//32 

//32 

//22 

//16 

//H 

//H 

5   P.M. 

//4 

//H 

//16 

//22 

//22 

//22 

//16 

//H 

//4 

//4 

6  P.M. 

//8 

//ll 

//1  6 

//ll 

//8 

7   P.M. 

//8 

This  table  is  subject  to  all  of  the  corrections  given  for  the  ex- 
posure table  for  the  fixed  camera.  "Double  exposure"  for  the 
motion-picture  camera  means  only  the  next  larger  diaphragm  stop, 
that  is,  the  next  lower  number.  "Four  times  exposure"  means 
two  numbers  lower,  and  so  on,  each  lower  number  doubling  the 
exposure.  "Half  exposure"  means  the  next  stop  number  higher 
than  the  one  given  in  the  table.  If  a  ray  filter  be  used,  the  diaphragm 
stop  must  be  opened  to  compensate,  two  stop  numbers  lower  for  a 
"four  times"  filter,  one  stop  number  lower  for  a  "two  times"  filter, 
or  three  stop  numbers  lower  for  an  "eight  times"  filter. 

Eastman  film  is  orthochromatic,  and  gives  color  values  and 
cloud  effects  when  used  with  an  orange  ray  filter.  It  is  of  the  sensi- 
tiveness used  for  "speed  Kodaks,"  one  and  a  half  times  as  fast  as 
ordinary  Kodak  film,  and  twice  as  fast  as  a  Seeds  2Gx  dry  plate. 

In  addition  to  all  of  the  corrections  for  clouds  and  nature  of 
subject,  as  used  for  fixed  photography,  a  quarter  of  the  exposure 


135 


68  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

may  still  be  sufficient  in  view  of  the  nature  of  the  motion  picture  and 
the  tendency  of  the  spectator  to  view  the  high  lights  of  the  moving 
objects  and  neglect  the  shadows. 

In  computing  an  exposure,  the  object  in  motion  is  the  center 
of  interest,  and  all  other  parts  of  the  picture  are  negligible.  For 
instance,  in  a  picture  of  an  airship  outlined  against  the  sky,  the 
sky  correction  (one-tenth  exposure)  is  correct  even  though  there 
are  foreground  objects;  when  the  picture  is  projected,  the  spectators 
will  look  at  the  airship,  not  at  the  foreground.  In  a  scene  where 
one  actor  occupies  the  center  of  the  stage  and  the  play  of  expression 
in  the  face  is  the  only  action  of  the  scene,  it  is  poor  motography 
to  over-expose  the  white  face  for  the  sake  of  getting  detail  in  the  half- 
lighted  studio  background  at  which  none  of  the  audience  is  looking. 

Exposure  Meters.  The  exposure  meter  used  for  fixed-camera 
work  is  entirely  suitable  for  motion-camera  work,  the  speed  of  the 
motion-picture  film  being  taken  as  250  Watkins  or  111  Wynne. 
Two  further  points  must  be  borne  in  mind.  First,  that  the  1/37 
exposure  given  by  the  motion-picture  camera  with  its  3/8-open 
shutter  working  at  fourteen  revolutions  per  second  is  full  actinic 
value  for  the  time,  the  equivalent  of  a  focal  plane  shutter  in  a  fixed 
camera,  and  much  greater  value  than  the  similar  schedule  of  the 
automatic  leaf  shutter  common  on  fixed  cameras.  Second,  that  the 
motion-picture  negative  will  stand  an  under-exposure  of  a  quarter 
exposure  or  even  less  than  that  and  yet  give  a  successful  print.  To 
judge  by  the  product  of  some  studios  and  factories,  the  manufac- 
turers prefer  their  films  that  way. 

In  using  the  Wynne  meter,  the  light  value  or  "actinometer  time" 
is  taken  in  seconds  and  the  number  of  seconds  thus  found  is  set  up 
opposite  the  plate  speed  number.  The  number  representing  the 
seconds  of  sun  time  is  found  upon  the  inner  scale  and  the  speed 
(111)  of  the  motion  film  is  found  on  the  outer  scale  of  the  meter. 
These  two  are  brought  together.  Now  opposite  the  exposure  to  be 
given,  read  the  diaphragm  stop  to  be  used.  The  exposure  1/37  is 
the  line  between  1/32  and  1/45.  In  the  illustration,  the  sun  time 
six  seconds  is  set  opposite  the  film  speed  111,  and  opposite  the  1/37 
exposure  line  is  read  a  diaphragm  stop  between  f/7  and  //8. 

In  using  the  Watkins  meter,  the  light  time  is  taken  in  seconds 
and  is  set  opposite  the  1/37  exposure;  opposite  the  film  speed  250 


136 


MOTOGRAPHY  69 

then  is  read  the  diaphragm  stop  to  be  used.  Thus,  when  a  light 
time  of  3  seconds  is  taken,  3  on  the  light  scale  is  set  between  1/32 
and  1/45  on  the  outer  ring  which  is  both  exposure  and  plate  speed 
scale.  Opposite  1/250  will  be  read  either  U.  S.  No.  8  or//ll. 

In  using  any  meter  in  the  field,  the  correction  for  the  nature 
of  the  subject,  and  for  the  allowable  or  desirable  under-exposure 
of  the  film,  is  always  to  be  made.  If  the  camera  man  should  find 
that  his  critics  or  "bosses,"  whosoever  they  may  be,  prefer  thin 
negatives  resulting  from  under-exposures,  the  film  speed  may  be 
taken  as  Wynne  256  or  Wynne  512  and  the  meter  scale  will  give 
directly  in  its  scale  reading  the  required  diaphragm  stop  with  the 
correction  for  under-exposure — as  compared  with  fixed  camera  work 
— as  desired. 

In  the  daylight  studio,  the  meter  will  show  the  value  of  the 
daylight  upon  the  scene  set,  and  will  give  the  stop  required.  If  the 
stop  required  is  larger  than  can  be  had  in  the  lens,  the  meter  will 
show  by  a  proper  interpretation  what  proportion  of  the  necessary 
light  is  had,  and  the  remaining  proportion  of  light  may  be  supplied 
by  lighting  a  partial  battery  of  lamps. 

In  the  artificially  lighted  studio  scene,  the  exposure  is  constant 
and  is  known  from  experience,  being  always  the  same,  day  or  night, 
scene  after  scene. 

The  exposure  value  for  a  scene  lighted  with  standard  Cooper- 
Hewitt  mercury-vapor  lamps  rated  at  700  candle-power  may  be 
calculated  according  to  the  following  formula: 

Take  the  average  distance  from  all  lamps  to  waist  height  of  an 
actor  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  scene  set,  measured  in  number  of 
feet.  Multiply  this  number  by  itself,  divide  by  ten  times  the  number 
of  lamps,  and  the  quotient  is  the  correct  exposure  at  //16.  Thus, 
with  100  lamps  averaging  10  feet  from  the  middle  of  the  stage  setting, 
the  solution  is  10X10  H- (10X100)  -  1/10  second  at //1 6,  or  1/40 
second  at//8.  Therefore,  for  such  a  setting,  stop//8  should  be  used. 

Where  the  light  is  insufficient,  it  is  possible  to  open  the  shutter 
of  the  camera  to  J-open-^-closed,  thus  increasing  the  exposure  by 
one-third  of  its  light  value.  By  turning  the  camera  slowly,  the  ex- 
posure value  is  further  increased,  but  this  can  be  done  only  with 
the  result  of  speeding  up  the  resulting  action  when  the  print  is  pro- 
jected. It  is  the  producer's  option,  not  the  camera  man's. 


137 


70  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Panoramic  views  of  poorly  lighted  scenes  without  moving 
figures,  as  the  interior  of  churches,  court  yards,  statuary,  conserva- 
tories, etc.,  and  factories  with  the  machinery  motionless,  may  be 
made  by  lengthening  the  exposure  by  turning  slowly,  but  only  by 
the  most  skilful  actors  is  it  possible  to  put  any  lifelike  movement 
into  such  a  picture. 

Duplicate  Exposures.  Exposure  values  are  always  doubtful 
even  when  calculated  from  the  meter.  When  two  cameras  are 
working  side  by  side  to  make  duplicate  negatives  of  the  same  scene, 
it  is  well  to  have  the  diphragm  stop  of  one  camera  one  number 
or  even  two  numbers  above  the  other,  giving  the  developing  room 
a  better  chance  to  get  one  really  perfect  negative  out  of  the  pair  of 
films.  Duplicate  exposures  upon  a  scene  are  made  for  several 
reasons : 

That  one  negative  may  be  held  in  reserve  in  case  of  accident  in  a 
printing  machine  or  elsewhere. 

That  two  exposures  may  be  available  in  case  of  accident  before 
or  during  development. 

That  one  negative  may  be  exported  for  printing  abroad. 

That  two  films  may  be  exposed  as  assurance  against  accident  in 
one  of  the  cameras. 

That  cameras  of  different  makes  may  have  their  products  confused. 

Trick  Crank.  The  main  crank  gives  a  large  number  of  pictures 
per  second,  and  the  camera  operator  acquires  a  skill  in  turning  it 
which  enables  him  to  take  fourteen  pictures  per  second  with  great 
precision.  When  it  is  desired,  for  trick  picture  purposes,  to  take 
the  pictures  at  a  slow  speed— that  the  action  may  be  speeded  up  in 
projection — it  is  possible  to  turn  the  main  crank  at  half  speed, 
but  better  to  use  a  "trick"  crank,  which  the  camera  man  may  turn 
at  his  normal  accustomed  speed.  This  trick  crank  is  geared  down 
in  the  camera  and  gives  only  half  the  inside  speed,  or  less,  sometimes 
making  only  one  picture  per  turn  of  the  crank.  The  opening  in  the 
shutter  must  be  changed  accordingly,  half  the  opening  for  half  the 
picture  taking  speed,  in  order  that  the  exposure  time  of  1/37  second 
may  be  maintained.  Correction  by  the  diaphragm  is  possible,  but 
results  in  too  much  motion  in  the  object  if  rapidly  moving.  Where 
the  main  crank  is  detachable,  it  may  be  put  on  either  the  main  shatf 
or  the  trick  shaft  of  the  camera. 


138 


^s 

gsi 


MOTOGRAPHY  71 

Reversing.  The  camera  may  reverse  the  action  in  three  methods, 
of  which  the  third  mentioned  is  the  usual  one  employed.  First, 
some  cameras  are  so  constructed  that  the  handle  may  be  turned 
backward  or  forward.  When  making  reversed  scene  with  such  a 
camera,  load  the  film  into  the  take-up  position  and  the  take-up  box 
into  the  feed  position,  then  change  the  take-up  belt  or  gears  to 
wind  upon  the  feed  spindle  position  which  now  is  reversing  take-up. 
Second,  mount  a  reversing  prism  in  front  of  the  camera  and  turn  as 
usual.  Third,  the  camera  is  provided  with  a  tripod  screw  or  socket 
in  the  top.  Turn  the  camera  top  down  on  the  tripod,  and  turn  as 
usual  except  that  the  crank  now  is  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the 
camera  from  that  to  which  the  operator  is  accustomed. 

Finders.  A  finder  for  focusing  is  not  convenient  for  deter- 
mining the  view  while  panoraming.  It  is  possible  to  panoram  accu- 
rately by  sighting  along  the  side  or  top  corner  of  the  camera,  par- 
ticularly when  two  operators  are  working  the  camera,  but  when  there 
is  but  one  and  he  stands  at  the  side  of  the  camera,  turning  two  cranks 
at  the  same  time,  a  finder  bringing  the  view  into  convenient  position 
will  be  an  advantage. 

Indicator.  A  film-measuring  device  works  upon  the  constant 
feed  of  the  film  and  has  its  dial  outside.  The  indicator  can  be  reset 
by  the  operator.  The  operator  sets  the  hand  to  zero  when  loading 
the  camera,  and  the  hand  then  will  read  upon  the  scale  the  length  of 
film  turned  through.  Knowing  the  length  put  into  the  camera  when 
loading,  the  operator  can  by  subtraction  know  the  length  still  remain- 
ing. When  not  enough  film  remains  for  the  next  scene,  the  camera 
must  be  reloaded,  the  lens  being  capped  and  the  film  "marked," 
and  the  remainder  of  the  film  wound  through  into  the  take-up  box 
before  opening  the  camera  to  reload. 

It  is  possible  to  make  the  dial  of  the  film  indicator  read  "remain- 
ing film"  instead  of  "used  film,"  the  operator  setting  the  hand  back- 
ward to  the  equivalent  of  the  film  length  when  loading  the  camera, 
and  the  hand  reading  upon  the  dial  at  all  times  just  the  amount  of 
film  remaining  as  the  hand  approaches  zero. 

Marker.  The  marker  is  a  push  button  or  pull  knob  on  the 
outside  of  the  camera,  and  usually  operated  to  punch  a  hole  in  the 
film  near  the  film  window.  Its  use  is  to  indicate  on  the  film  the  end 
of  a  scene.  For  the  benefit  of  the  developing  room,  a  "test  exposure" 


139 


72  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

of  a  few  feet  of  film  is  made  before  beginning  the  taking  of  the  scene 
for  the  final  motion  picture  negative.  The  camera  is  set  up,  focused, 
and  closed  ready  for  use,  the  light-struck  leader  is  turned  off  into 
the  take-up  box,  and  then  several  turns  of  the  crank  are  given,  ex- 
posing a  dozen  feet  of  the  film  before  the  action  is  ready  to  begin. 
The  "marker"  then  is  operated  to  punch  a  hole  in  the  film,  or  two 
or  three  holes  with  single  picture  space  between  them.  The  scene 
then  is  taken.  In  the  developing  room,  the  leader  of  film  ahead  of 
the  marker  holes  may  be  cut  off  and  developed  to  learn  whether 
the  exposure  is  correctly  timed,  and  whether  regular  or  special  de- 
veloper shall  be  used  in  the  development  of  the  scene  of  the  film. 

When  the  unused  film  in  the  camera  is  not  enough  to  cover  the 
length  of  scene  which  the  producer  is  about  to  enact  before  the 
camera,  the  marker  is  operated  again  and  the  remainder  of  the  film 
wound  through.  A  memorandum  of  the  number  of  feet  of  unex- 
posed  film  is  sent  with  the  reel  when  it  goes  back  to  the  factory, 
that  length  is  measured  off  and  the  film  is  cut  at  the  marker  holes, 
thus  saving  the  unused  film. 

Bianchi  Camera.  This  camera  does  not  use  the  intermittent 
motion,  but  uses  a  continuously  moving  film  and  passes  the  rays  of 
the  image  through  a  revolving  prism.  The  only  difference  to  the 
camera  operator  is  the  method  of  threading  up  the  film. 

Hamacek  Camera.  This  camera  uses  no  sprockets,  and  the 
film  is  not  perforated.  The  method  of  use  is  in  all  ways  similar  to 
the  camera  using  perforated  film,  except  in  the  detail  of  threading. 

No  matter  what  the  mechanism  of  the  camera,  the  operator 
should  understand  it  thoroughly,  and  keep  it  clean,  properly  oiled, 
and  in  perfect  adjustment  and  running  condition. 

Factory  Floor  Plan.  Fig.  15  shows  a  floor  plan  suitable  for  a 
small  motion-picture  film  factory.  This  shows  only  the  "photog- 
rapher's" department,  the  sales  offices  and  the  studio  being  adjacent 
or  elsewhere. 

The  plan  is  self-explanatory  outside  of  the  developing  room 
and  the  light-trap  entrance  to  the  developing  and  printing  rooms. 
The  perforating  room  is  entered  only  through  the  printing  room. 
Partitions  form  a  tortuous  pathway  into  the  developing  room  and 
printing  room  from  the  shipping  room,  permitting  the  free  access  to 
and  from  these  rooms  without  doors,  and  without  danger  of  accidental 


14O 


MOTOGRAPHY 


73 


light  flashes  into  the  rooms  by  reason  of  the  opening  of  the  doors. 
At  the  end  of  the  developing  room  next  the  washing  room  a  large 
door  shown  double  is  of  sufficient  size  to  permit  a  developing  cage 
to  pass  through.  Because  of  the  opening  of  this  outer  door  to  the 
developing  room,  there  is  no  door  between  the  printing  room  and 
developing  room,  passage  being  had  through  the  entrance  passage- 
ways, or  by  a  turntable  in  the  partition. 

Development  of  Films.  Cages.  For  development,  the  exposed 
or  printed  film  is  wound  spirally  upon  cages  3  feet  in  diameter  and 
5  feet  long,  one  such  cage  taking  a  200-foot  roll  of  film.  The  euds 


*»»»»«|    im™* 

fiOOM          I      '  ROOM 

1 

DEVELOPING  ROOM 

WASHING 
STAINING  a) 
30FTENIN6 
ROOM 

1 

V            |  —  '     |« 

f         \  —    L  - 

DRYING 

orncE 

INSPECTING 

PACKING  OJ 

SHIPPIN6 

ROOM 

Fig.  15.     A  Film  Factory  Floor  Plan 

of  the  cage  are  built  like  wheels  of  fellies  and  spokes,  the  ends  being 
connected  by  round  polished  wood  rods,  the  whole  appearing  like 
a  large  cylindrical  cage  with  an  axle  through  the  center. 

Trays.  The  developing  tray  is  of  wood,  6  inches  deep,  and 
has  within  it  a  zinc  trough  curved  with  the  curvature  of  the  develop- 
ing cage.  Standards  at  the  ends  of  the  developing  tray  take  the 
axles  of  the  developing  cage  and  support  its  surface  within  £  inch  of 
the  bottom  of  the  zinc  tray  which  it  fits  closely  but  does  not  touch, 
turning  freely  on  its  axle.  A  few  gallons  of  developer  in  the  zinc 
tray  will  develop  several  cages  of  film,  the  cage  being  turned  con- 
stantly during  development.  The  wood  tray  catches  what  developer 
splashes  over  the  zinc. 


141 


74  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Trays  for  washing  do  not  have  the  inner  zinc  trough,  being 
filled  with  water,  running  water  if  convenient.  The  hypo  trays  also 
should  have  an  abundance  of  hypo  solution,  and  do  not  require  the 
inner  zinc  trough  for  economy  of  solution  as  is  the  case  with  the 
developer. 

Room.  Four  trays  are  shown  in  the  floor  plan,  No.  1  developer, 
No.  2  water,  No.  3  water,  and  No.  4  hypo  fixing  bath.  The  cages 
are  handled  by  the  developing  room  operator  and  an  assistant,  lift- 
ing at  the  two  ends  of  the  axle.  The  routine  of  development  is  as 
follows : 

Developing.  Through  the  large  door,  a  developing  cage  is 
brought  in  and  hung  over  the  developing  tray  on  high  journals,  a 
few  inches  above  the  developer.  The  large  door  being  securely 
closed  arid  the  room  lighted  by  red  light  only,  the  operator  opens 
a  tin  box  of  exposed  film,  attaches  one  end  with  a  clamp  to  one  of 
the  slats  of  the  cage,  at  one  end;  the  assistant  turns  the  cage  and  the 
operator  feeds  the  film  on  from  the  roll,  attaching  the  end  when  all 
is  fed  on.  The  cage  now  is  set  down  on  lower  journals  and  turned 
in  the  developer  by  the  assistant  while  the  operator  watches  the 
images  until  fully  developed.  The  cage  then  is  lifted  to  the  wash 
water  tray,  turned  a  few  times,  then  to  the  second  wash  water  and 
turned  a  few  times,  then  to  the  fixing  bath.  When  the  milkiness  is 
gone,  the  big  door  is  opened,  the  cage  with  the  wet  film  is  carried 
out  to  the  washing  room,  and  another  empty  cage  is  brought  in  and 
the  big  door  closed  again. 

Washing.  Two  assistants  in  the  washing  room  wash  the  film 
through  several  waters  or  in  running  water  to  free  it  from  hypo, 
then  turn  it  in  a  tray  of  diluted  glycerine — 1  part  glycerine,  33  parts 
water — for  a  minute  and  carry  it  into  the  drying  room. 

Drying.  The  drying  drums  differ  from  the  developing  drums 
in  having  smooth  surfaces  instead  of  being  cylinders  of  slats.  Also, 
they  may  be  larger  than  the  developing  cages,  since  they  do  not  have 
to  be  handled — 4  feet  in  diameter  by  8  feet  long  is  reasonable,  and 
will  hold  600  feet  of  film.  Two  attendants  are  required  in  the  drying 
room.  The  end  of  the  film  is  attached  to  the  drum  with  a  thumb 
tack  and  one  attendant  turns  the  drum  by  hand,  while  the  other 
attendant  guides  the  wet  film  from  the  developing  cage  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  drying  drum.  When  the  end  is  reached,  it  is  attached 


142 


MOTOGRAPHY  75 

with  a  tack  or  push  pin,  and  the  drying  drum  is  belted  to  a  motor 
which  drives  it  continuously  until  the  film  is  dry.  The  developing 
drum  is  sent  back  to  the  washing  room  for  use  again  in  the  develop- 
ment of  films. 

When  films  are  dry,  they  are  unwound  from  the  drying  drums 
to  reels  or  into  baskets  and  taken  to  the  inspection  room,  if  positives, 
for  shipment,  or  sent  to  the  photographer  for  inspection  and  proofs, 
if  negatives. 

Making  Titles.  The  making  of  a  title  is  a  simple  case  of  the 
making  of  a  motion  picture  of  an  object  which  as  a  general  rule  is 
not  moving.  The  titles  are  set  up  and  properly  lighted  and  pho- 
tographed with  a  motion-picture  camera,  using  the  length  of  film 
called  for  by  the  synopsis.  Most  conveniently,  titles  are  prepared 
in  batches,  a  number  of  titles  being  photographed  upon  a  long  strip 
of  film  which  then  is  developed  in  the  usual  way  and  a  proof  print 
taken.  The  titles  then  are  cut  apart  and  spliced  into  the  motion 
scenes  as  required  for  the  complete  film  pictures. 

To  make  titles  with  movable  letters,  a  table  top  is  covered  with 
black  cloth  and  a  motion-picture  camera  is  permanently  mounted 
above  it  and  focused  upon  the  surface  of  the  table.  Lamps  are 
placed  around  the  table  for  lighting  the  title.  The  light  need  not  be 
excessively  bright,  as  the  camera  may  be  turned  slowly  and  with  a 
large  shutter  opening. 

Upon  the  table  top,  white  letters  are  arranged  to  form  a  title, 
the  title  is  photographed  by  turning  the  camera  above  the  table, 
and  the  letters  immediately  are  arranged  again  for  the  next  title. 
Letters  cut  by  dies  from  white  paper  may  be  bought  in  various  sizes, 
or  porcelain  letters,  such  as  are  used  for  signs  on  window  glass,  also 
are  obtainable  in  various  sizes  and  in  various  styles  of  lettering. 
Lines  upon  the  table  top  show  the  edges  of  the  field  of  the  camera 
and  within  the  lines  the  desired  title  is  formed,  arranging  the  letters 
of  each  line  against  a  straight  edge  which  is  removed  before  pho- 
tographing. 

The  table  top  is  a  convenient  means  for  copying  all  kinds  of 
titles,  merely  laying  the  title  upon  the  table,  if  the  suspended  camera 
is  arranged  so  that  it  can  be  moved  to  different  heights  to  provide 
for  different  enlargements  of  the  various  titles,  and  further  arranged 
so  that  it  can  be  focused  conveniently. 


143 


76  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

In  photographing  either  a  yellow  telegraph  blank  printed  with 
black  ink  or  a  white  telegraph  blank  printed  with  blue  ink,  a  heavy 
yellow  ray  filter  should  be  used  over  the  lens  to  increase  the  contrast 
in  the  resultant  title. 

A  suggestion  for  the  photographing  of  titles  is  that  a  slow  film 
be  used  for  the  negative  instead  of  the  extremely  fast  sensitive  film 
used  for  the  motion  scenes,  since  a  slow  film  will  give  a  greater  con- 
trast in  the  resulting  titles. 

A  reversed  title  is  made  as  follows:  With  a  title  in  black  letters 
on  a  white  card,  photograph  the  title  and  develop  as  usual ;  this  nega- 
tive has  clear  letters  on  a  dense  background.  Make  a  reversed  print 
by  printing  with  the  celluloid  side  of  the  negative  against  the  gelatine 
side  of  the  printing  stock.  This  print  when  examined  will  have  its 
letters  reading  backward,  like  a  negative,  but  will  have  black  letters 
on  a  clear  background.  This  reversed  print  is  the  reversed  negative, 
to  be  spliced  in  with  the  negatives  of  the  motion  scenes  for  printing 
the  titles  for  the  finished  pictures,  the  printing  for  the  final  scenes 
being  gelatine  to  gelatine,  as  for  the  motion  scenes.  In  the  print, 
the  reversed  title  will  appear  with  clear  letters  upon  a  dense  back- 
ground, making  the  title  when  projected  show  white  letters  upon  a 
black  screen. 

Printing.  Room.  The  proper  location  for  the  printing  room 
is  between  the  perforating  room  and  the  developing  room,  as  shown 
in  the  floor  plan  of  Fig.  15,  with  entrances  into  both  perforating  and 
developing  rooms  as  conveniently  arranged  as  possible.  The  print- 
ing room  constantly  requires  supplies  of  perforated  film  from  the 
perforating  room,  and  constantly  supplies  the  developing  room  with 
printed  film  for  development.  The  connection  between  the  print- 
ing room  and  the  developing  room  is  particularly  close,  since  by 
immediate  development  of  the  film  after  printing  the  developing 
room  operator  may  be  able  to  note  errors  in  printing  which  might 
spoil  large  quantities  of  film  if  printed  far  in  advance  of  development. 
The  printing  room  is  provided  with  printing  machines  and  power 
to  drive  them. 

Machines.  Obviously,  a  negative  for  a  reel  of  film  1,000  feet 
long  cannot  well  be  handled  in  a  contact  printing  frame  such  as  is 
used  for  printing  the  negatives  from  a  fixed  camera,  nor  is  it  prac- 
ticable to  cut  the  negative  into  sufficiently  short  lengths  for  such 


144 


MOTOGRAPHY  77 

contact  printing  even  if  proper  results  could  be  obtained  in  that 
manner.  Since  the  standard  roll  of  film  furnished  by  the  makers 
of  the  raw  film  is  200  feet,  and  since  the  developing  cages  are  also 
of  a  size  to  handle  the  200-foot  rolls  of  film,  the  1,000-foot  negative 
is  cut  into  five  pieces  of  200  feet  each  and  the  200-foot  length  is  the 
standard  length  through  the  factory  up  to  the  time  for  splicing  together 
into  the  reel  for  shipment  to  the  film  exchange. 

The  printing  machines  are  of  two  types,  stepping  and  rotary. 
The  stepping  printing  machine  has  a  film  window  and  an  inter- 
mittent film  movement.  There  is  no  lens.  An  incandescent  lamp 
is  arranged  to  shine  upon  the  film  window,  being  adjustable  in  dis- 
tance from  the  window.  The  lamp  is  enclosed,  to  prevent  leakage 
of  white  light  into  the  printing  room,  and  the  film  window  is  backed 
with  ruby  glass  to  permit  the  operator  to  see  the  image  in  the  win- 
dow and  to  prevent  leakage  of  white  light.  A  framing  device  is  a 
desirable  feature  of  a  stepping  printing  machine,  and  a  necessity  if 
the  intermittent  film  movement  is  not  entirely  reliable.  A  project- 
ing motion  head  may  be  used  as  a  printing  machine,  or  in  the  case 
of  amateur  work  the  lens  may  be  removed  from  the  camera  and 
the  camera  may  be  used  as  a  stepping  printing  machine.  The  pro- 
jecting head  has  the  framing  device,  while  the  camera  has  not,  and 
either  requires  the  printing  lamp  with  its  adjustment  for  distance 
to  be  added,  after  removing  the  lens. 

Two  feed  reels  are  provided,  one  for  the  negative  and  one  for 
the  raw  positive  film  stock,  the  two  ends  being  started  through  the 
film  window  together,  film  sides  together  and  the  negative  next 
the  light,  so  the  light  shines  through  the  negative  upon  the  positive. 
The  shutter  remains  upon  the  machine.  The  operator  then  applies 
the  power  and  keeps  the  image  framed  in  the  film  window.  A  take- 
up  reel  rolls  up  the  printed  positive  film,  but  it  is  customary  to  run 
the  negative  into  an  open  basket  and  to  rewind  it  before  making  the 
next  print,  so  that  the  printing  always  proceeds  from  the  same  end 
of  the  negative.  The  stepping  machine  will  print  from  10  to  100 
feet  per  minute. 

The  continuous  printing  machine  is  much  faster  in  operation 
than  the  stepping  machine,  printing  from  40  to  500  feet  per  min- 
ute according  to  the  quality  of  the  negative,  but  the  greater  perfec- 
tion in  mechanism  required  renders  the  continuous  machine  difficult 


145 


78  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

to  construct,  and  the  greater  accuracy  required  in  adjustment  and 
operation  sometimes  results  in  losses  of  film  not  encountered  with 
the  stepping  machines;  and  if  the  defective  film  be  not  discovered 
and  discarded,  then  the  manufacturer  is  giving  to  his  customers 
an  inferior  product,  which  is  the  worst  condition  of  all. 

In  the  continuous  machine,  the  two  films,  negative  and  positive, 
are  wound  with  a  steady  motion  from  the  feed  rolls  to  the  take-up 
rolls,  passing  together  in  contact  in  front  of  a  window  lighted  with  the 
printing  lamp.  This  sounds  very  easy,  but  the  slightest  slipping  of 
one  film  upon  the  other  will  produce  an  effect  upon  the  picture  screen 
when  projected  which  will  drive  a  spectator  to  insanity,  and  the  slight- 
est lack  of  registration  in  the  perforations  of  the  two  films  will  pro- 
duce the  undesirable  slipping. 

Exposure.  By  the  term  "exposure"  in  printing,  the  same  mean- 
ing is  conveyed  as  in  using  the  camera,  namely,  the  amount  of  light 
which  is  permitted  to  pass  to  the  sensitive  film.  In  the  printing 
machine  this  depends  upon  the  intensity  of  the  printing  light  in  the 
window,  the  size  of  the  window  or  shutter  opening,  and  the  speed 
at  which  the  printing  machine  is  driven. 

With  either  the  stepping  or  continuous  machine,  the  amount 
of  exposure  may  be  regulated  without  stopping  the  machine  by 
changing  the  distance  of  the  printing  lamp  from  the  film;  doubling 
the  distance  cuts  the  exposure  value  by  four;  and  dividing  the  print- 
ing-lamp distance  by  three,  multiplies  the  exposure  value  by  nine, 
according  to  the  law  of  squares. 

With  either  the  stepping  or  continuous  machine,  the  amount 
of  exposure  may  be  regulated  by  changing  the  speed  of  driving  the 
machine.  This  regulation  does  not  apply  the  law  of  squares  but 
gives  a  lineal  inverse  ratio  to  the  exposure,  half  the  speed  giving 
double  the  exposure,  double  the  speed  giving  half  the  exposure,  and 
so  on. 

With  the  stepping  machine,  the  opening  of  the  shutter  may 
be  changed  from  ^-open  to  £-open  or  f-open,  the  change  in  exposure 
value  being  in  direct  ratio  to  the  size  of  the  open  portion  of  the  shut- 
ter. It  is  possible  to  construct  printing  machines  in  which  the  shutter 
opening  may  be  changed  without  stopping  the  machine,  inasmuch 
as  some  motion-picture  cameras  have  this  feature  in  the  shutter  and 
such  a  camera  shutter  may  be  used  in  a  stepping  printing  machine. 


146 


MOTOGRAPHY  79 

With  the  continuous  machine,  the  size  of  the  film  window  or 
slit  of  light  shining  upon  the  film  may  be  changed  without  stopping 
the  printing  machine.  The  printing  window  or  spot  of  light  which 
impresses  the  image  upon  the  positive  film  as  the  two  films  pass 
may  be  large  enough  to  cover  a  full  image,  or  two  images,  or  may  be 
only  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  width,  or  even  narrower,  extending 
always  from  side  to  side  of  the  film.  The  narrower  this  band  of  light, 
the  less  injurious  to  the  resulting  print  will  be  any  lack  of  accuracy 
in  the  adjustment  of  the  printing  machine,  or  in  the  perforations  of 
the  two  films.  With  a  narrow  band  of  light,  the  printing  lamp  must 
be  nearer,  or  brighter,  or  the  speed  of  the  machine  must  be  slower. 
Incandescent  electric  lamps  are  used  because  of  the  uniformity 
of  their  illuminating  power. 

Film  Adjustment  During  Printing.  The  200-foot  piece  of 
negative  is  composed  likely  of  half  a  dozen  motion  scenes,  some 
inside  studio  work  and  some  outdoor  work,  interspersed  with  titles. 
That  all  these  short  negatives,  made  under  varying  conditions, 
should  have  the  same  printing  density  and  require  the  same  exposure 
in  the  printing  machine  is  quite  unlikely.  Each  200-foot  length  of 
negative  is  inspected  by  the  chief  photographer  and  ticketed  for 
exposure.  Following  is  a  sample  exposure  ticket  for  a  stepping 
printing  machine  having  lamp  distance  as  its  only  adjustment  while 
moving. 

First  Negative,  "The  New  Boarder" 
Speed  25  feet  per  minute 
Shutter  J-open 
12'  title  3" 
30'  interior  scene  1C" 

6'  title  3* 

20'  interior  scene  10* 
10'  outside  scene  8" 
60'  interior  scene  10* 
6'  title  3* 
40'  outside  scene  6* 

The  number  of  feet  given  at  the  beginning  of  each  line  of  the 
ticket  indicates  the  length  of  film  which  is  taken  up  with  the  title 
or  scene,  that  the  printer  may  anticipate  the  instant  when  the  next 
change  is  to  be  made.  The  exact  instant  is  known  in  a  stepping 
machine  by  watching  the  images  of  the  negative  in  the  film  window. 
In  a  continuous  printing  machine,  the  images  are  blurred  by  the 


147 


80  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

steady  motion,  but  the  change  in  density  of  the  negative  will  be 
noticed,  and  further  guidance  may  be  had  by  cutting  a  small  notch 
in  the  edge  of  the  negative  film  and  arranging  an  electric  circuit  to 
tap  a  bell  as  the  notch  passes. 

The  lamp  of  the  printing  machine  is  movable  by  a  lever  which 
is  provided  with  pointer  and  scale  and  with  movable  stops  which 
may  be  set  to  stop  the  lever  at  different  lamp  distances.  To  print 
the  negative  ticketed  according  to  the  specimen  ticket  given,  the 
printer  sets  stops  permanently  at  3"  and  10",  the  limiting  positions, 
holding  the  lever  against  the  stops  for  that  portion  of  the  negative 
for  which  those  stops  are  correct,  and  holding  the  pointer  on  the 
scale  at  the  proper  number  for  other  sections  of  the  negative. 

For  use  with  a  continuous  machine,  the  exposure  ticket  would 
give  at  the  head  the  film  speed  and  slot  width,  or  would  give  at  the 
head  the  speed  and  lamp  distance  and  then  give  the  slot  width  for 
each  portion  of  the  negative,  the  adjustment  being  made  by  slot  width 
rather  than  by  lamp  distance. 

Making  the  Exposure  Ticket.  By  experience,  the  photographer 
in  charge  can  judge  the  printing  exposure  required  by  looking  through 
the  negative,  or  comparing  it  with  standard  specimens.  The  first 
print  should  be  developed  promptly  and  inspected,  the  ticket  being 
changed  if  required.  In  case  of  doubt  before  printing,  the  negative 
may  be  run  through  the  printing  machine  under  known  conditions 
with  a  foot  of  positive  film,  this  foot  being  attached  to  the  develop- 
ing drum  with  tacks  while  a  roll  is  being  developed.  By  the  result- 
ing specimen  print,  the  proper  exposure  may  be  judged. 

Developing  Prints.  Processes  suitable  for  developing  lantern 
slide  plates  in  fixed  camera  photography  are  suitable  for  the  motion- 
picture  positive  prints.  Hydro-metol  or  hydro-quinone  developer 
are  usual.  The  positive  print  is  developed,  washed,  fixed,  washed, 
softened  in  glycerine,  and  dried. 

Inspection.  After  drying,  the  prints  are  carefully  looked  over, 
foot  by  foot,  for  defects  of  any  character  whatever.  The  five  200- 
foot  pieces  of  each  1,000-foot  reel  then  are  spliced  together  in  proper 
order  and  the  reel  is  ready  for  packing  and  shipment.  Isolated 
defective  images  are  cut  out  and  a  splice  made.  Where  more  than 
a  limited  number  of  images  in  one  place  are  found  defective  in  the 
print,  the  place  is  marked  and  a  short  length  printed  from  the  negative 


148 


MOTOGRAPHY  81 

and  substituted  for  the  defective  length  of  film.  Hand  staining, 
hand  coloring,  and  hand  spotting  of  the  prints  are  done  in  the  inspec- 
tion department  unless  of  such  quantity  that  a  special  department 
is  created  for  the  work.  After  passing  the  inspection,  the  film  is 
packed  in  its  sheet  iron  shipping  cases,  one  reel  in  a  case,  and  sent 
to  the  storage  room  until  required  for  shipment. 

Print  Spotting.  Very  little  hand  work  is  done  upon  the  print 
after  it  is  dried,  but  sometimes  a  reel  of  negative  will  have  a  scene 
which  requires  hand  work  on  each  print  to  bring  it  up  to  the  standard 
of  the  factory,  or  to  make  it  passable  at  all.  If  the  scene  cannot  be 
retaken  to  secure  an  improved  negative,  the  hand  work  upon  the 
prints  must  be  done.  In  many  instances,  it  is  possible  to  balance  the 
cost  and  inconvenience  of  necessary  hand  work  upon  prints  or 
negative  against  the  cost  of  reproducing  the  scene  and  securing  an 
improved  negative. 

Staining.  Staining  of  a  print  is  done  in  the  wash-room  as  a 
part  of  the  washing  process,  and  is  done  in  the  same  manner  that  a 
laundress  uses  in  bluing  her  clothes.  The  last  rinse  water,  or  the 
glycerine  bath,  or  both,  are  charged  with  an  aniline  dye  or  other 
water-soluble  dye  stuff,  and  the  film  takes  the  color  in  passing  through 
the  baths.  This  produces  a  stained  gelatine  film  on  which  the  silver 
image  is  still  black.  When  projected  it  produces  a  black  picture 
upon  a  tinted  screen.  It  is  largely  used  for  reversed  titles,  producing 
the  title  in  tinted  letters  upon  a  black  picture  screen  and  giving  a 
more  pleasing  effect  than  a  plain  white  title.  The  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company  uses  a  yellow  telegraph  blank,  and  titles  show- 
ing such  messages  sometimes  are  stained  yellow  to  lend  realism  to 
the  title. 

Toning  or  Monochroming.  In  the  toned  or  monochromed  film, 
the  gelatine  remains  clear  and  the  shadows  of  the  image  are  colored, 
giving  the  effect  upon  the  picture  screen  when  projected  of  a  picture 
painted  with  color  upon  a  white  sheet.  The  processes  may  be  classi- 
fied as  those  which  obtain  the  colored  image  in  the  first  development 
of  the  positive  film  and  those  which  obtain  the  color  by  subsequent 
manipulation. 

With  hydro-metol  or  hydro-quinone  developer  having  no  bromide 
or  insufficient  bromide,  the  image  will  come  up  in  olive  green.  Be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  bromide,  the  development  is  very  rapid 


149 


82  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

and  difficult  to  control,  and  the  printing  exposure  must  be  corre- 
spondingly short  to  secure  a  good  print.  With  a  proper  adjust- 
ment of  printing  exposure,  developer  strength  and  bromide,  neutral 
blacks  can  be  secured.  With  a  developer  rich  in  bromide,  develop- 
ment is  slower  and  the  resulting  film  shows  shadows  tending  toward 
brown,  and  with  still  more  bromide  the  print  shows  purple  or  even 
red.  Printing  exposure  must  be  increased  to  avoid  unduly  prolonged 
development.  With  a  printing  exposure  of  ten  times  normal  for 
black  and  a  development  period  of  ten  times  normal  for  black  and 
with  sufficient  bromide  in  the  developer  to  restrain  the  development 
to  that  period  of  time  after  that  exposure,  the  resulting  images  will 
be  a  purple  which  tends  toward  red.  Monochroming  of  this  class 
is  done  in  the  developing  room,  before  the  print  is  passed  out  to  the 
daylight  washing  room. 

Processes  in  which  the  colored  image  is  not  obtained  in  the 
first  development  may  be  carried  on  in  the  daylight  washing  room, 
before  the  film  is  bathed  in  the  glycerine  bath.  Re-developing  for 
sepia,  and  intensification  and  toning  for  blue,  green,  and  red  may 
be  done  as  for  lantern-slide  plates.  The  literature  of  the  photographic 
art  is  amply  provided  with  formulas  for  these  processes. 

Repeater  Printing.  Where  it  is  desired  to  give  a  special  tone 
to  a  single  scene  or  short  portion  of  a  complete  film  picture,  the 
negative  for  that  scene  may  be  omitted  from  the  complete  negative, 
a  few  inches  of  blank  film  or  special  code  film  being  inserted  instead. 
The  short  scene  now  is  placed  in  the  printing  machine  and  the  two 
ends  stuck  together,  forming  a  belt.  A  200-foot  roll  of  positive  film 
is  started  through  the  printing  machine,  and  the  belt  of  negative  is 
printed  repeatedly  for  the  entire  length  of  the  positive  roll,  if  required, 
or  for  as  many  rolls  as  are  required.  A  large  number  of  repetitions 
of  a  short  scene  thus  may  be  developed  and  toned  at  once,  being 
cut  apart  after  drying  and  spliced  into  the  regular  prints  at  the 
proper  place,  the  bit  of  dummy  film  put  into  the  negative  acting  as 
a  guide  to  the  inspection  room  to  put  the  special  scene  in  its  proper 
place. 

Hand  Staining.  Titles  or  short  scenes  forming  parts  of  long 
pictures  and  requiring  staining  may  be  done  more  conveniently  by 
staining  each  positive  print  with  a  brush,  by  hand,  than  by  special 
work  in  the  developing  or  washing  room  and  the  subsequent  splicing 


150 


MOTOGRAPHY  83 

required  in  the  inspecting  room.  One  of  the  desirable  features  of 
hand-staining  is  that  there  is  no  danger  of  errors  in  the  order  of 
scenes  in  splicing  up,  since  the  splicing  is  avoided.  The  slight 
unevenness  of  hand-staining  is  entirely  negligible  in  reversed  titles. 
Hand-staining  is  done  in  the  inspection  room  after  the  film  has  been 
dried. 

Coloring  Films.  Hand  Process.  The  primitive  method  is  to 
take  the  positive  film  and  a  set  of  brushes  and  water  colors  and 
color  each  of  the  small  images  as  though  they  were  so  many  separate 
and  distinct  photographs,  as  indeed  they  are.  In  connection  with 
this  method  of  hand-coloring  the  intermittent  mechanism  of  the 
camera  or  projecting  machine  may  be  used  with  great  convenience. 
The  strip  of  film  to  be  colored  is  arranged  over  a  glass  plate  through 
which  the  light  may  pass,  since  the  colorist  should  look  through  the 
film  to  get  the  effect  of  the  color.  A  leader  is  spliced  (or  pinned) 
to  the  film  to  be  colored  and  is  taken  through  an  intermittent  move- 
ment controlled  by  the  colorist's  foot  upon  a  pedal,  that  by  a  single 
pressure  upon  the  pedal  the  film  being  colored  may  be  stepped  for- 
ward one  picture.  This  change  will  take  place  very  quickly,  so  that 
the  colorist  seems  to  be  working  upon  the  same  image.  Taking 
the  blue  color  for  the  sky,  the  colorist  colors  the  sky  of  the  first  image, 
lifts  the  brush,  and  presses  the  shift  pedal,  proceeding  to  color  the 
sky  of  the  next  image  without  lifting  the  hand  from  the  position  of 
applying  the  color,  merely  lifting  the  brush  from  the  film  while 
shifting  the  images.  Having  colored  all  the  skies,  a  certain  tree, 
house,  or  chimney  is  colored  throughout  the  length  of  the  scene; 
then  the  moving  figures  are  colored,  the  brush  of  the  colorist  follow- 
ing the  figure  over  the  small  picture  as  the  figure  moves  in  the  action 
of  the  play.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  pedal  shift,  the  coloring 
of  some  film  scenes  becomes  surprisingly  rapid.  Hand-colored 
scenes  are  spliced  up  with  monochromed  and  stained  scenes  and 
titles.  A  "full  hand-colored  film"  picture  has  been  reported  by 
colorists  as  requiring  a  day's  labor  of  a  worker  for  each  35  feet  of 
film.  The  time  for  different  scenes  will  vary  widely,  and  this  35  feet 
per  day  may  be  taken  as  a  maximum  of  labor  in  hand-coloring. 

Stencil  Process.  A  stencil  is  made  for  each  color  to  be  applied 
to  the  film,  and  the  proper  colors  are  applied  through  the  stencils 
with  brushes  operated  by  hand.  Assuming  that  it  is  decided  to  color 


151 


84  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

a  scene  with  three  colors,  red,  yellow,  and  blue:  Four  prints  of  the 
scene  are  taken  by  the  colorist;  upon  one  is  painted  with  red  all  of 
the  parts  of  each  image  which  are  to  be  colored  red  in  the  finished 
colored  picture,  just  as  the  hand  colorist  would  finish  with  the  red 
before  taking  up  another  color.  The  colorist  next  takes  the  yellow, 
but  takes  also  the  second  of  the  prints  and  colors  upon  the  second 
print  all  of  the  parts  which  are  to  be  colored  yellow  in  the  finished 
picture.  The  blue  color  and  the  third  of  the  prints  now  are  taken 
and  all  parts  to  be  blue  in  the  finished  picture  are  colored  blue  in  the 
third  film  print.  By  looking  through  all  three  of  the  prints  together, 
the  colorist  may  judge  what  the  result  of  the  combination  of  colors 
upon  one  print  will  be,  and  may  change  any  of  the  prints.  When 
finished,  there  are  three  colored  prints,  each  of  which  bears  but  a 
single  color.  If  more  than  three  colors  had  been  decided  upon  there 
would  be  more  than  three  of  the  partly  colored  prints.  The  three 
prints  now  are  cut  with  a  sharp  knife  or  with  stenciling  chisels,  re- 
moving all  of  the  colored  portions  and  leaving  all  of  the  uncolored 
portions.  The  result  is  a  set  of  stencils,  in  one  of  which  every  red 
spot  on  the  finished  colored  motion  film  is  indicated  by  a  hole  in 
the  stencil,  in  another  of  which  the  yellow  is  represented  similarly 
by  holes,  and  in  the  third  of  which  the  blue  is  represented  by  holes. 

The  fourth  print  of  the  scene  is  taken,  the  red  stencil  is  placed 
upon  it  and  a  brush  charged  with  red  ink  is  run  over  the  stencil. 
The  yellow  stencil  then  is  placed  upon  it  after  removing  the  red 
stencil  and  a  brush  charged  with  yellow  ink  is  run  over  it.  The 
yellow  stencil  being  removed,  the  blue  stencil  is  placed  upon  the  film 
and  a  brush  charged  with  blue  ink  is  run  over  it.  The  result  is  a  tri- 
color print  with  the  colors  stenciled  upon  the  black  lines  of  the 
photographic  print.  A  monochromed  or  stained  print  may  be  sten- 
ciled over  in  the  same  way,  producing  desired  effects. 

Machine  Process.  The  machine  feature  consists  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  ink  through  the  stencil  by  a  stenciling  machine.  An 
illustration  from  the  published  American  patent  of  a  French  film 
coloring  machine  is  reproduced  in  Fig.  16.  The  method  of  making 
the  stencil  is  the  same  as  for  a  hand-stenciled  film.  The  operation 
is  as  follows:  Having  the  stencil  for  one  color,  and  the  film  to  be 
colored,  each  in  a  roll,  the  roll  of  stencil  is  placed  in  the  machine  at 
23  and  the  roll  of  film  to  be  colored  is  placed  at  24-  The  ends  then 


152 


MOTOGRAPHY 


85 


are  taken  through  the  guide  blocks  25,  the  stencil  band  being  shown 
by  the  dotted  line  2  and  the  film  to  be  colored  being  shown  by  the 
solid  line  3.  These  are  passed  together  over  the  large  roller  or  drum 
1.  Just  above  this  drum  there  is  a  short  endless  band  of  ribbon  21. 
This,  the  inventor  tells  us,  should  be  of  velvet,  so  that  it  offers  a 
soft  brushlike  surface  which  is  well  suited  to  pass  through  the  holes 
in  the  stencil  band  and  touch  the  film  to  be  colored,  which  lies  just 
underneath.  The  band  21,  which  is  really  an  ink  brush,  runs  over 
three  rollers,  and  runs  in  a  direction  opposite  to  the  direction  of 
the  film  and  stencil  band,  the  directions  of  the  movements  of  the 
parts  being  shown  by  the  arrows  close  to  the  different  bands;  thus 
there  is  a  considerable  brushing  effect  between  the  inking  band  and 


Fig.  16.     Film-Coloring  Machine 

the  film  to  be  colored  wherever  a  hole  in  the  stencil  band  permits 
the  brush  band  21  to  get  through  to  touch  the  film.  This  charges 
the  film  with  ink  or  dye,  coloring  it  in  every  spot  where  the  color  is 
desired,  that  is  to  say,  everywhere  that  a  hole  has  been  made  in 
making  the  stencil  band  2. 

The  supply  of  ink  is  taken  from  the  tank  -30  and  is  carried  first 
upon  a  short  belt  27;  it  is  taken  from  the  belt  27  and  put  upon  the 
inking  ribbon  21  by  the  revolving  brush  26.  The  whole  device  is 
driven  by  a  belt  and  runs  continuously,  the  teeth  upon  the  drum 
1  keeping  the  stencil  band  and  the  film  to  be  colored  traveling  con- 
stantly at  the  same  speed,  and  keeping  them  always  in  register. 


153 


86  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

As  in  hand  stenciling,  a  separate  stencil  is  required  for  each 
color,  and  the  film  to  be  colored  is  run  through  as  many  coloring 
machines,  each  having  a  different  stencil  and  a  different  color  of 
ink,  as  there  are  colors  in  the  finished  picture. 

Waterproofing.  The  picture  film  is  celluloid  upon  one  side, 
gelatine  upon  the  other.  The  celluloid  side  is  hard,  glossy,  water- 
resisting,  scratch-resisting,  dust-resisting,  but  the  gelatine  side  is 
easily  scratched,  collects  dust  in  the  scratches  and  sometimes  with- 
out them,  and  is  ruined  by  a  drop  of  water,  yet  requires  a  moist 
atmosphere  or  it  will  crack  by  becoming  too  dry  and  brittle. 
In  the  process  called  "waterproofing"  .celluloid  or  a  similar  sub- 
stance in  solution  is  applied  over  the  gelatine  film,  strikes  through 
the  film  and  unites  with  the  celluloid  body,  forming  a  celluloid 
skin  over  the  delicate  film  and  imprisoning  the  gelatine  like 
the  ham  in  a  railroad  sandwich.  After  that  treatment,  both 
sides  of  the  picture  film  are  hard  and  scratch-resisting,  and  the 
film  may  be  washed  with  water  (by  special  machinery  for  the 
purpose)  to  remove  dirt.  At  the  same  time,  the  moisture  which 
made  the  film  flexible  is  imprisoned  with  the  gelatine  and  the 
film  remains  flexible.  The  process  is  patented.  Either  plain  or 
colored  films  may  be  waterproofed,  or  the  negatives  in  the  print- 
ing room.  The  proper  time  for  waterproofing  is  before  the  film  is 
shipped  for  use. 

Packing  Films  for  Shipment.  The  films  are  shipped  in  full  reels, 
or  1,000-foot  lengths,  wound  with  open  center  with  the  title  end  out. 
Each  reel  is  packed  in  a  circular,  flat  sheet-iron  can  and  then  in  a 
wood  box;  this  is  a  requirement  of  the  express  companies.  A  further 
requirement  is  regarding  a  danger  label,  which  must  be  printed  on 
red  paper  not  less  than  3  inches  square,  reading  as  follows:  "Moving 
picture  films  must  not  be  loaded  or  stored  near  a  radiator,  stove,  or 
other  source  of  heat."  The  reason  for  the  last  rule  is  that  celluloid 
when  warm  gives  off  explosive  vapors. 

Reclaiming  Waste.  Light-struck  films  develop  black,  and  these 
may  be  sold  to  film  exchanges  for  leaders.  The  punchings  from  the 
perforating  room  contain  silver,  and  this  may  be  reclaimed  at  a  profit 
by  a  chemical  process.  The  black  silver  in  junk  or  spoiled  film  may 
be  reclaimed  but  usually  is  not,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  silver  in 
the  used  hypo  bath. 


154 


SCENE  FROM  PHOTOPLAY,  "THE  INHERITANCE' 
Courtesy  of  Thomas  A.  Edison,  Inc.,  Orange,   N.J. 


MOTOGRAPHY  87 

PHOTOGRAPHIC    EQUIPMENT 

All  supplies  needed  by  the  manufacturer,  other  than  cameras, 
printing  machines,  perforating  machines,  and  film  stock,  may  be 
bought  in  any  city  in  the  open  market. 

Buying  Cameras.  Urban  and  other  English  and  French  cameras 
may  be  purchased  and  imported  into  the  United  States  at  costs 
ranging  from  $300  to  $400;  printing  machines  cost  about  the  same 
prices  as  cameras,  for  either  the  stepping  or  continuous  move- 
ment. The  importation  or  manufacture  of  cameras  in  the  United 
States  is  influenced  by  the  patent  situation.  Cameras  have  been 
offered  for  sale  in  the  United  States  at  prices  quoted  from  $475 
to  $2,500. 

Making  Cameras.  A  projecting  machine  may  be  converted 
into  a  camera,  though  rather  bulky  for  field  work  and  requiring  some 
ingenuity  to  accomplish  all  the  desired  features  of  a  camera  for 
both  studio  and  field  work.  A  projecting  machine  with  lens  removed 
and  a  hooded  lamp  at  the  aperture  becomes  a  printing  machine 
almost  without  change.  The  pin  or  claw  intermittent  movement 
is  preferable  to  the  sprocket  for  cameras. 

Buying  Films.  Several  prominent  makers  of  roll  films  for 
hand  cameras  have  taken  up  the  manufacture  of  film  for  motion- 
picture  cameras  and  are  supplying  the  market.  The  price  charged 
is  about  four  cents  per  foot,  unperforated.  From  some  dealers  it 
may  be  bought  perforated. 

Fire  Risk  in  Storing  Films.  A  rolled  film  in  its  tin  box  is  a  per- 
fectly safe  proposition  at  ordinary  temperatures.  The  celluloid 
body  of  the  film,  whether  raw  film,  prints,  or  junk,  gives  off  an  in- 
flammable and  explosive  gas,  giving  it  off  more  rapidly  when  warm 
than  when  cold.  A  vault  for  storing  films  must  have  a  vent;  a  slow 
but  continuous  draught  of  air  through  the  vault  seems  a  logical  pro- 
vision for  safety. 

CHRONOPHOTOQRAPHY 

The  requirement  for  scientific  study  usually  is  a  clear  sharp 
picture  taken  at  regular  intervals.  The  intervals  may  be  short  or 
long,  either  at  the  rate  of  several  hundred  pictures  per  second  or  at 
the  rate  of  one  picture  per  hour,  or  one  per  day.  The  results  occasion- 
ally are  of  interest  to  the  general  public. 


155 


88  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Motographic  Microscopy.  The  image  of  the  thing  to  be  moto- 
graphed  is  taken  through  microscopic  lenses  to  the  motion  camera 
in  a  manner  easily  accomplished  when  the  lenses  are  available.  The 
greatest  difficulty  is  found  in  illuminating  the  subject  sufficiently  to 
achieve  the  short  motographic  exposure  without  destroying  the 
subject  by  the  heat  of  the  source  of  light.  By  carrying  the  light 
through  water  or  an  alum  cell  before  it  reaches  the  subject,  and  by 
operating  a  shutter  between  the  light  and  the  subject  so  that  the  light 
is  cut  off  from  the  subject  except  while  the  exposure  is  being  made, 
such  relief  from  the  heat  may  be  attained  as  will  permit  making  a 
motographic  picture  without  destroying  the  thing  motographed. 

Motographic  Ultramicroscopy.  Ultramicroscopy  is  the  name 
given  to  the  process  of  microscopic  study  which  makes  use  of  the 
ultra-violet  (invisible)  rays,  recording  the  image  upon  a  photographic 
plate  and  studying  it  after  development.  Motographic  film  has  been 
operated  successfully  with  this  class  of  microscopic  study. 

X=Ray  Motograpliy.  The  invisible  X-ray  penetrates  many 
solids  which  are  impenetrable  by  light,  and  the  X-ray  is  able  to 
influence  the  photographic  dry  plate  or  motographic  film.  Passing 
through  the  body,  the  X-ray  is  obstructed  by  the  bones  and  the 
heavier  and  denser  organs,  throwing  a  shadow  of  them  upon  the 
photographic  surface.  By  arranging  the  motographic  camera  with 
proper  shutter  and  protective  X-opaque  shields  for  the  reels  and 
film,  motion  pictures  of  the  heart  in  action,  of  circulation  of  the  blood, 
etc.,  are  possible. 

TRICK  PICTURES 

There  is  no  standard  "box  of  tricks"  beyond  which  lies  nothing 
of  interest.  The  interest  never  ceases  when  trick-picture  making 
has  been  begun.  This'  subject  was  opened  under  the  discussion 
of  tricks  in  the  production  of  the  specimen  film,  "High-Jumping 
Johnnie."  The  thoughts  there  given  were  but  the  simplest  of  tricks, 
easily  understood  or  almost  guessed  by  the  audience  in  watching 
the  picture.  In  addition  to  the  tricks  used  so  much  that  they  may 
be  considered  standard  illusions  in  motography,  special  effects  may' 
be  attained  by  tricks  as  subtle  as  those  of  the  accomplished  magician 
before  his  audience.  A  few  of  the  standard  tricks  of  illusion  are 
here  described. 


156 


MOTOGRAPHY  89 

Reversals.  The  method  is  to  show  upon  the  screen  the  series 
in  the  order  just  reversing  the  order  in  which  the  pictures  were  taken. 
When  this  is  done,  all  the  characters  would  walk  backward,  objects 
would  fall  from  the  floor  upward  to  the  shelves  and  table,  smoke 
would  float  down  into  the  chimney,  etc. 

Means.  Turn  the  camera  bottom  up  on  the  tripod — by  a  tripod 
socket  in  the  top  of  the  box — this  will  reverse  the  action.  Or  print 
by  a  special  printing  machine  which  steps  the  film  negative  in  one 
direction  and  the  positive  stock  in  the  other  direction. 

Effects.  A  runaway  horse  may  run  backward  and  push  the 
wagon  before  him  just  as  easily  as  running  forward  if  there  are  no 
people  on  the  street  who  also  would  walk  backward  and  thus  reverse 
the  illusion. 

A  witch  desires  to  create  money  from  a  piece  of  tallow  candle. 
She  melts  the  candle  and  pours  it  on  a  surface  to  cool.  From  this 
point  a  picture  of  coin  casts  in  tallow  melting  on  the  same  surface  is 
inserted  reversed,  giving  the  appearance  that  the  melted  tallow 
magically  takes  the  form  of  coins  and  hardens.  The  witch  then  ap- 
parently picks  them  off  as  good  coins  magically  created. 

A  sculptor  makes  a  wonderful  statue  in  record  time,  with  a 
wealth  of  detail,  by  skilfully  pulling  apart  a  clay  model  before  the 
camera,  the  film  then  being  run  reversed  whereby  he  seems  to  build 
up,  not  to  tear  down. 

A  swimmer,  having  jumped  into  the  water,  by  a  reversed  film 
jumps  just  as  easily  out  again,  landing  safely  upon  the  bank,  pier, 
or  springboard,  feet  first,  every  time. 

Speed  Pictures.  When  pictures  are  taken  slowly  and  projected 
at  the  standard  rate,  the  action  of  the  picture  seems  correspondingly 
faster. 

Means.  Reduce  the  shutter  opening  and  turn  the  handle  slowly, 
or  turn  the  camera  mechanism,  by  a  specially  provided  gear  to  a 
special  handle  or  shaft  called  the  "trick  handle." 

Effects.  Chases  may  be  made  to  appear  much  more  rapid  than 
they  really  are,  and  acrobatic  actions  on  the  part  of  a  comedian  in 
the  scene  may  be  made  so  violent  as  to  be  ludicrous.  The  ordinary 
traffic  of  a  street  may  be  thus  speeded  up. 

Dummies.  When  a  character  is  required  by  the  plot  of  the 
picture  to  pass  through  some  hazardous  experience,  such  as  having 


157 


90  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

his  head  cut  off  or  falling  from  a  high  building,  a  dummy  is  sub- 
stituted. 

Means.  The  action  having  progressed  to  the  point  where  the 
substitution  of  the  dummy  is  necessary  or  convenient,  the  producer 
cries  "Hold  it,"  or  "Freeze,"  and  all  actors  instantly  become  motion- 
less and  remain  so,  the  camera  man  stops  turning,  the  actor  to  be 
dummied  gets  off  the  scene,  the  producer  and  his  assistants  arrange 
the  dummy  figure  where  the  actor  was,  the  camera  man  is  given  the 
signal  to  turn,  the  remaining  actors  are  given  the  signal  to  go  on 
with  the  action  until  it  is  required  to  replace  the  dummy  with  the 
actor,  when  the  same  plan  of  freezing  over  the  change  is  carried  on. 
When  the  film  is  developed  a  short  length  may  be  cut  out  at  each  of 
the  freezes  if  need  be  to  improve  the  picture. 

Effects.  An  accident  frequently  is  a  part  of  the  plot  of  the 
picture.  The  dummy  substitute  may  be  used  to  relieve  the  actor 
from  danger  in  that  scene.  The  film  picture  story  says  that  the  hero 
rushes  to  the  rail  of  an  ocean  liner  in  mid-ocean,  hurls  himself  over- 
board and  swims  to  shore.  The  picture  is  made  by  his  rushing  to 
the  rail,  picking  up  a  dummy  of  himself  and  throwing  it  overboard, 
while  the  photographer  or  producer  cuts  out  that  part  of  the  film 
where  he  picks  up  the  dummy  and  lifts  it  above  the  rail.  The  swim 
to  shore  and  the  landing  on  the  distant  beach  is  made  in  the  tank 
in  the  studio  backyard. 

Ghosts.  Apparitions  are  made  by  exposing  the  negative  film 
twice  before  developing  it. 

Means.  A  lens  with  an  iris  diaphragm  so  that  it  may  be  opened 
and  closed  gradually  while  the  camera  is  running.  The  full  picture 
having  been  made,  the  ghost  is  staged  upon  a  stage  set  all  in  black 
and  the  film  already  exposed  is  run  through  the  camera  again  as 
noted  in  advance,  so  many  feet  with  the  lens  closed,  then  gradually 
opening  the  diaphragm  to  about  one-tenth  of  a  normal  exposure 
continuing  for  so  many  feet  and  gradually  closing  if  the  ghost  is  to 
fade  away,  but  suddenly  capping  the  lens  if  the  ghost  is  to  vanish 
instantaneously. 

Effects.  Only  white  or  light  figures  may  be  brought  into  the 
picture  in  this  way.  The  good  white  fairy  may  appear  thus  to  wave 
a  signal  to  the  favored  hero.  A  fairy  symbol  may  appear  upon  the 
wall  of  the  room  and  disappear.  The  actor  may  lie  down  to  sleep 


158 


MOTOGRAPHY  91 

and  upon  a  blank  wall  (left  blank  for  the  purpose  in  the  scene 
setting)  appears  the  action  of  his  dream. 

When  the  actor  thus  appearing  under  the  ghost  effect  is  required 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  play  subsequently,  or  when  the  figure 
thus  to  be  produced  is  not  white  or  substantially  so,  then  the  illusion 
may  be  made  under  the  plan  for  dissolving  views. 

Dissolving  Views.  When  it  is  desired  to  have  an  actor  appear 
in  magical  manner  slowly  and  to  take  a  part  in  the  action  thereafter, 
the  producer  causes  the  actors  to  freeze,,  and  the  camera  man  reduces 
his  aperture  gradually  to  a  closed  shutter.  The  camera  man  turns 
his  camera  back  to  the  point  where  he  began  to  close,  the  actor  to 
be  produced  takes  his  position  and  the  camera  man  begins  to  turn 
and  gradually  opens  his  shutter  diaphragm;  when  the  diaphragm 
is  nearly  open  the  action  may  proceed.  Much  practice  on  the  part 
of  the  camera  man,  or  a  special  camera  with  automatic  diaphragm 
is  required.  Disappearance  of  any  character  is  effected  in  the  same 
manner. 

DcuHe  Printing.  Apparitions  may  be  produced  by  making 
the  two  exposures  upon  separate  films  and  running  the  two  negatives 
through  the  printing  machine  together  with  the  printing  stock,  so 
that  the  images  of  both  the  negatives  are  impressed  upon  the  sensi- 
tive print  stock. 

Where  the  object  to  be  added  to  the  scene  is  a  dark  object  to 
be  added  in  a  light  area  of  the  original  scene,  it  is  added  by  running 
the  printing  stock  through  the  printing  machine  with  the  first  nega- 
tive and  again  with  the  second  negative,  separately. 

When  a  satisfactory  print  has  been  produced  by  the  double 
printing  process,  the  print  is  copied  upon  another  strip  of  film  stock, 
thus  producing  a  single  negative  of  the  double  print,  from  which 
single  negative  as  many  double-printed  positives  as  may  be  desired 
may  be  had,  with  less  trouble  than  making  the  total  number  of  double 
prints. 

Double  Exposures.  The  making  of  ghosts  by  double  exposures 
has  been  discussed.  An  explosion  in  the  midst  of  a  number  of  men 
may  be  made  by  making  an  exposure  of  many  feet  of  film  in  which 
at  a  given  signal  the  men  all  act  upon  the  cue  that  the  explosion 
has  occurred.  The  camera  man  then  goes  to  a  black  background, 
having  noted  the  place  in  the  film  at  which  the  explosion  cue  occurred, 


159 


92  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

and  runs  the  film  from  that  point  upon  an  explosion  which  produces 
a  large  amount  of  white  smoke.  In  the  projected  picture,  the  men 
will  be  seen  enveloped  in  the  smoke  of  the  explosion,  which  did  not 
occur  perhaps  until  next  day.  This  effect  might  be  made  double  by 
printing  with  the  negatives  together. 

It  is  desired  to  photograph  the  semblance  of  an  actress  swimming 
in  deep  water,  presumably  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  An  aquarium 
is  photographed,  or  an  aquatic  background  scene  is  photographed 
upon  the  motion  film.  The  actress  then  is  attired  in  light  color, 
the  camera  is  attached  near  the  ceiling  or  mounted  in  the  rafters, 
the  actress  lies  upon  the  -studio  floor  and  simulates  the  movements 
of  swimming.  In  the  finished  picture  she  is  seen  swimming  among 
the  details  of  the  aquarium  or  aquatic  background  scene. 

Mirrors.  The  appearance  of  a  character  in  a  scene  may  be 
effected  by  a  mirror  upon  the  stage,  the  actor  standing  off  the  stage 
but  in  view  of  the  camera  through  the  mirror  at  all  times,  appearing 
in  the  picture  according  to  the  amount  of  light  which  he  receives 
from  lamps  near  him.  When  lighted  he  is  seen  in  the  play;  when 
darkened,  he  is  not  seen. 

By  mirrors  also  the  effect  of  diminutive  characters  upon  the 
stage  may  be  effected.  A  table  is  backed  by  a  mirror  which  is  not 
noted  except  as  a  part  of  the  paneled  wall.  In  the  mirror  is  visible  an 
actor  who  really  stands  beside  the  camera.  Owing  to  the  greater 
distance  of  this  reflected  actor  from  the  camera,  he  will  appear  of 
shorter  stature  than  those  actors  who  are  viewed  directly  by  the 
camera  without  reflection.  Thus  a  fairy  of  diminutive  size  may  be 
made  to  appear. 

The  secret  of  success  in  this  illusion  rests  upon  the  accuracy 
with  which  the  reflected  image  is  placed  in  the  picture,  and  upcn 
keeping  out  of  the  picture  any  intermediate  objects  between  the 
reflected  actor  and  the  directly  photographed  parts  of  the  picture. 

Such  a  picture  may  be  made  by  double  exposure,  by  double 
printing,  by  mirror,  or  by  blackroom  methods. 

Blackroom.  In  making  a  negative  of  a  single  figure  which  is 
to  be  printed  in  with  another  scene,  or  in  making  the  second  ex- 
posure of  a  double  exposure,  the  stage  is  hung  in  black  or  non-actinic 
color  value. 

With  a  black  stage,  the  distances  of  all  objects  on  the  stage 


160 


MOTOGRAPHY  93 

are  deprived  of  their  perspective  values  since  all  connecting  features 
of  the  stage  are  invisible  photographically.  A  man  sits  at  a  table 
near  the  camera.  The  camera  lens  is  level  with  the  table  top.  Upon 
the  distant  side  of  the  room  a  girl  is  dancing  upon  a  black  platform 
of  the  height  of  the  table.  To  the  eye  of  the  camera,  the  dancer's 
feet  just  touch  the  table  top,  but  because  of  her  distance  the  image 
is  proportionately  smaller  than  that  of  the  man.  The  resulting 
picture  shows  the  man  sitting  at  a  table  upon  the  top  of  which  is 
dancing  a  fairy  no  more  than  ten  inches  tall. 

Stop  Picture.  The  dummy  picture  is  called  a  stop  picture  be- 
cause the  camera  is  stopped  while  the  dummy  substitution  is  made. 
Pictures  in  which  sudden  appearances  and  disappearances  are  made, 
are  called  stop  pictures  because  the  camera  is  stopped  while  the 
actors  remain  frozen.  There  is  another  type  of  stop  picture  to  which 
the  name  is  particularly  applicable,  the  camera  being  stopped  after 
every  exposure. 

Means.  A  camera  making  one  exposure  with  one  turn  of  the 
handle,  and  which  may  be  left  always  with  its  shutter  closed  by  leav- 
ing the  handle  in  a  latched  position. 

Effects.  By  the  stop  picture  it  is  possible  to  give  inanimate  objects 
the  appearance  of  life.  Dolls  are  made  to  walk.  Toy  animals  of 
the  "humpty-dumpty"  type  are  made  to  perform  circus  feats.  Saws 
are  made  to  cut  off  boards  without  hands;  hammers  are  made  to 
drive  nails  without  hands;  shoe  laces  tie  themselves,  etc. 

Method.  The  stage  being  set,  the  handle  is  turned  once  on  the 
camera,  making  one  picture,  or  perhaps  several  at  the  beginning 
before  starting  the  action.  The  handle  being  left  in  its  latched 
position,  with  the  shutter  of  the  lens  closed,  the  moving  object  of 
the  stage  setting  is  moved  slightly.  If  a  box  of  matches  upon  a 
table  top  is  the  subject  of  the  picture,  the  inner  box  is  pushed  from 
the  cover  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch.  The  handle  of  the  camera  is  turned 
once.  The  inner  box  is  pushed  an  eighth  of  an  inch;  the  handle  is 
turned  again.  The  inner  box  is  pushed  another  eighth  and  the 
handle  is  turned  again,  the  person  or  the  hand  which  moved  the 
match  box  having  been  safely  out  of  the  field  of  the  camera  before 
the  crank  was  turned.  The  box  being  opened  a  little  farther  and  a 
little  farther  each  time  soon  is  far  enough  open  to  permit  the  matches 
to  be  extracted.  One  match  raises  one  end  to  the  edge  of  the  box;  the 


161 


94  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

handle  is  turned  once.  The  match  is  advanced  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch 
and  the  handle  is  turned  again;  another  sixteenth,  and  another, 
and  the  handle  may  be  turned  several  times  without  moving  the 
match,  giving  the  match  the  appearance  of  having  paused  in  its 
motion  to  observe  whether  it  is  being  watched  in  its  escape  from 
the  box.  Careful  study  of  the  extent  of  each  motion  of  the  match 
and  the  direction,  and  the  taking  occasionally  of  more  than  one 
picture  between  moves  makes  it  possible  to  give  to  an  inanimate 
object  a  wonderful  simuktion  of  life. 

This  class  of  stop  pictures  take  unlimited  time.  Perhaps  it  is 
a  job  for  rainy  days  in  the  studio. 

Film  manufacturers  are  permitting  the  popularity  of  trick  pic- 
tures to  decline  because  of  the  expense  of  producing  them.  The 
time  consumed  overbalances  all  features  of  apparent  economy  over 
ordinary  methods  for  producing  the  legitimate  motion  picture. 


162 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER 

MANAGEMENT 

It  is  stating  a  platitude,  to  say  that  a  motion-picture  theater 
will  not  operate  itself  at  a  profit.  If  such  a  condition  ever  existed, 
competition  and  the  multiplication  of  theaters  has  eliminated  it 
from  the  ordinary,  and  has  made  such  instances  rare,  if  not  obsolete. 
Picture  theaters  from  time  to  time  close  their  doors  and  go  out  of 
business  because  they  do  not  pay  a  profit,  and  others  "change  hands" 
because  the  manager  has  found  that  he  is  making  less  money  operat- 
ing the  theater  than  he  could  make  doing  something  else.  If  the 
theater  would  only  "operate  itself"  and  pay  a  profit  merely  by  the 
condition  of  its  existence,  the  manager  might  be  a  negligible  quan- 
tity in  the  picture  theater,  and  his  personality,  his  duties,  his  special 
training,  and  the  limitations  of  his  business  might  be  neglected  in  a 
book  of  instruction  whose  scope  is  to  cover  the  entire  motion-picture 
industry. 

The  "Sick"  Motion=Picture  Theater.  A  picture  theater  is  giving 
service  to  the  citizens  of  a  district  of  the  city,  conjointly  with  several 
other  theaters  in  the  neighborhood.  Each  gets  a  share  of  the  people 
who  seek  entertainment  in  the  evenings  in  that  portion  of  the  city, 
but  one  of  them,  it  will  be  assumed,  gets  less  than  the  others,  while 
its  cost  of  operation  is  about  the  same.  It  is  only  a  matter  of  time 
until  the  familiar  sign  "This  Place  Has  Changed  Hands"  will  be 
seen,  the  place  is  closed  for  a  week  to  emphasize  the  change  of 
ownership  and  to  advertise  the  new  opening,  a  few  changes  are 
made  in  the  theater,  and  business  is  begun  again.  From  this  time 
on,  it  gets  its  full  share  of  the  neighborhood's  theater  traffic,  or  even 
more. 

What  is  the  change?  The  only  fundamental  change  is  the 
manager.  The  new  manager  has  brought  with  him  either  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  motion-picture  theater  business,  or  an  ability  to  learn 
the  business  while  running  his  theater.  The  new  manager  under- 

Copyriyht,  1011,  by  American  School  of  Correspondence. 


165 


2  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

stands  from  experience  or  study,  or  is  able  to  learn  and  understand, 
not  only  his  theater  itself,  but  the  people,  his  people,  his  patrons  who 
come  to  his  theater.  They  are  his  people,  for  he  makes  them  his. 
He  studies  them,  learns  them,  pleases  them,  and  gets  their  money. 

Several  instances  of  change  of  ownership  have  been  studied 
especially  for  the  purpose  of  setting  forth  the  observations  in  this 
book  in  order  that  theater  managers  might  profit  by  them. 

Change  of  Management  (1).  There  were  three  theaters  in  the 
same  city  block,  with  no  other  theaters  within  three  city  blocks  in 
either  direction.  The  difference  in  traffic  among  the  theaters  in 
the  block  was  easily  noticeable  to  a  motion-picture  scout  who  gave 
the  following  two  reasons  why  one  of  the  theaters  got  less  business 
than  its  proper  share.  First,  it  was  the  oldest  of  the  three  and  had 
the  least  attractive  front,  each  of  the  later  houses  having  been  de- 
signed to  surpass  the  older  house  in  outside  attractiveness.  Second, 
it  was  at  the  distant  end  of  the  block  from  a  busy  cross-street,  so  that 
the  larger  number  of  people  coming  to  that  block  reached  the  other 
two  theaters  first,  and  could  reach  the  oldest  theater  only  by  passing 
the  other  two. 

When  the  place  "changed  hands" — an  event  which  came  to 
pass  just  after  the  midwinter  holidays — the  only  new  element  in  the 
theater  was  the  new  manager.  The  place  was  not  even  closed  for 
spectacular  effect  of  an  "opening  night."  The  new  manager,  how- 
ever, was  noticed  at  once.  He  took  upon  himself  the  duties  of  usher 
in  his  theater,  and  made  it  a  point  to  stand  at  the  exit  door  as  the 
patrons  who  had  seen  the  show  came  out.  If  a  patron  chanced  to 
glance  at  him,  the  glance  was  met  with  a  smile  and  a  remark,  "Call 
again,"  or  "Good  night,"  or  "Did  you  like  the  show?"  or,  apologetic- 
ally, "We  are  not  so  crowded  except  on  Saturday  nights."  He  was 
studying  his  people  as  they  came  out  of  the  theater;  he  learned  them, 
and  they  learned  to  know  him  and  came  to  expect  him  to  be  there. 
Many  of  them  learned  to  express  praise  of  a  good  program  which 
had  pleased  them  particularly,  while  others  by  such  questions  as 
"When  are  you  going  to  have  another  Biograph?"  or  a  compliment 
upon  any  specific  film  picture,  told  him  just  what  pictures  were  pleas- 
ing his  people.  He  began  to  put  out  signs  of  "Good  Selig  Tonight" 
and  "Repeated  by  Request,"  from  time  to  time,  and  gained  for  his 
theater  its  just  share  of  the  business  of  the  block. 


166 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  3 

Under  one  manager,  this  theater  failed;  under  another  manager 
the  same  theater,  unchanged  except  as  to  manager,  succeeded. 
The  pay  roll  was  the  same,  the  quality  of  film  about  the  same,  the 
projection  about  the  same;  but  the  manager  tried  to  learn  what  films 
would  please  his  people,  then  obtained  that  class  of  subject  and  from 
popular  factories,  and  advertised  in  front  of  his  theater  in  the  par- 
ticular manner  which  he  found  best  to  attract  his  passers-by. 

Change  of  Management  (#).  Of  three  theaters  in  two  adjacent 
blocks  in  a  city,  one  had  a  front  of  really  artistic  design  in  mission 
style,  finished  in  the  dark  stain  familiar  in  mission  furniture.  This 
place  "changed  hands"  during  the  summer.  The  new  manager 
painted  that  mission  finish  a  pure  white,  just  like  the  other  two 
theaters,  his  competitors.  A  handsome  wall  sign  at  the  entrance, 
containing  the  announcement  of  the  films,  and  decorated  with  minia- 
ture electric  lights,  completed  the  only  changes  noticeable  as  im- 
provements. The  "Happy  Hour"  always  had  had  as  good  a  program 
as  its  competitors  in  the  next  block,  but  from  this  time  on  it  had 
also  just  as  good  a  patronage  as  they. 

Change  of  Management  (5).  A  small  "store  front"  theater  in 
a  large  city  was  located  on  a  cross-street  near  the  principal  retail 
business  street  of  the  city.  The  owner  and  manager  lost  money  all 
through  his  lease  of  a  year  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  was  glad  to  sell 
his  fittings  at  a  sacrifice  to  relieve  himself  of  the  burden  of  removing 
them  to  vacate  the  building  for  the  owner.  The  purchaser  was 
an  experienced  motion-picture  theater  man,  running  two  theaters 
on  other  streets  in  the  same  city.  He  studied  the  location  (before 
purchasing)  and  saw  that  the  situation  was  peculiar. 

Because  the  theater  was  located  on  a  side  street,  the  crowds 
of  shoppers  did  not  pass  its  door.  Just  around  the  corner,  on  the 
main  business  street  for  shoppers,  were  two  other  picture  theaters, 
taking  the  trade  of  the  shoppers  and  leaving  the  side  street  theater 
almost  deserted.  The  experienced  theater  man  saw  that  this  theater 
location  did  not  have  an  equal  chance  to  obtain  the  patronage  of  the 
shoppers,  but  he  conceived  the  idea  that  there  must  exist  a  class  of 
people  other  than  empty-headed  shoppers  strolling  into  the  first  open 
theater  door,  and  he  decided  to  buy  the  place,  thoroughly  renovate 
it,  put  in  a  sloping  floor,  and  make  an  appeal  to  a  special  class  of 
patrons  by  offering  a  special  class  of  program. 


167 


4  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

The  old  show  had  been  running  a  program  of  two  reels  of  film, 
a  new  reel  and  a  holdover  each  day;  one  song  illustrated  with  lantern 
slides  and  changed  twice  a  week,  the  singer  being  the  pianist;  and 
one  vaudeville  act.  This  program  was  given  for  five  cents.  The 
new  manager  reduced  the  size  of  the  picture  screen,  thereby  giving 
a  brighter  picture  and  reducing  the  jiggle  of  the  picture  while  still 
using  the  same  projecting  machine.  Then  the  vaudeville  act  was 
eliminated  and  a  really  good  singer  was  employed.  The  picture 
films  were  changed  to  a  program  of  "daily  change"  of  the  two  reels 
without  holdover — for  this  manager  hoped  to  build  up  some  patron- 
age with  office  and  store  people  who  would  come  every  day,  either 
noon  or  evening.  To  this  end,  his  song  was  changed  every  day.  This 
gave  him  a  complete  change,  both  pictures  and  song,  every  day, 
with  a  short  program  of  only  about  forty  to  forty-five  minutes,  but 
with  the  quality  at  the  very  top,  particularly  in  the  matter  of  the 
music. 

The  result  was  unqualified  success,  and  profit.  The  difference 
lay  in  the  training  of  the  manager.  The  first  manager  did  not  under- 
stand his  environment  thoroughly,  and  tried  to  run  a  downtown 
theater  for  shoppers  on  a  street  where  there  were  no  shoppers;  the 
new  manager  recognized  this  limitation  of  location  and  did  not  strive 
to  fight  against  it,  but  instead  reasoned  that  there  must  exist  in  that 
section  a  clientele  de  luxe,  a  class  of  busy  people  with  an  inclination 
for  good  music,  and  who  would  come  every  day  for  a  short  program  of 
high  quality.  His  success  with  the  theater  formerly  a  failure  has 
proved  his  wisdom. 

Change  of  Management  (4)-  This  theater  was  one  of  two, 
about  a  block  apart,  on  a  business  street  through  a  residence  dis- 
trict of  a  city.  It  was  run  by  a  man  who  owned  the  store  building 
and  who,  lacking  a  tenant,  thought  it  only  necessary  to  put  in  a 
theater  front  and  a  picture  screen  and  hire  an  operator  and  a  film 
service.  He  did  not  make  his  rental  value.  A  young  man  living  in 
the  neighborhood  and  working  downtown  during  the  day  offered 
to  take  the  management  of  the  theater,  which  was  open  evenings 
only.  This  young  man  had  no  experience  whatever  as  manager, 
but  studied  the  traffic  of  the  neighboring  picture  show  close  enough 
to  see  that  the  only  difference  between  the  two  shows  was  the  quality 
of  the  films  and  projection.  He  took  the  management  of  the  house, 


168 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  5 

changed  his  film  service,  hired  a  good  projection  operator — thereby 
increasing  the  running  expenses— put  out  a  "changed  hands"  sign 
to  induce  the  people  to  make  a  trial  visit,  advertised  a  special 
program  with  hand-bills  every  week,  and  got  his  share  of  the  trade 
from,  the  first  week. 

In  this  case,  the  first  manager  made  a  failure  because  he  did 
not  study  his  own  theater  to  'find  out  what  was  the  matter  with  it. 
The  second  manager  made  a  success,  because  he  studied  the  two 
theaters  comparatively  to  learn  wherein  the  one  which  he  thought  of 
taking  was  inferior  to  the  competitor,  knowing  that  it  was  necessary 
only  to  equal  his  competitor  to  obtain  his  half  of  the  traffic,  and 
knowing— from  a  head  count  and  an  expense  sheet — that  half  the 
traffic  in  his  theater  would  pay  him  a  profit. 

Change  of  Management  (5).  This  case  was  pure  economy  in 
pay  roll.  One  man  started  a  store-front  theater  and  quit  before 
the  end  of  the  first  winter.  The  second  winter,  another  man  started 
in  the  same  store,  ran  it  for  two  winters,  and  continues  to  operate  it. 
This  picture  show  is  isolated,  being  in  a  small  town,  the  only  show 
in  the  town.  The  man  who  ran  this  show  for  the  first  winter  knew 
nothing  of  the  motion-picture  business.  He  furnished  a  store  room 
with  screen  and  chairs,  a  piano  and  a  projection  machine,  hired  a 
pianist,  an  operator,  and  a  film  service,  and  started  the  show,  act- 
ing himself  as  doorkeeper.  The  show  ran  evenings  only,  and  paid 
no  profit.  The  owner  concluded  that  the  town  was  too  small  to 
support  a  motion-picture  theater,  and  closed  the  house. 

The  second  manager,  who  ran  the  theater  the  second  year, 
was  a  projection  operator.  He  did  not  take  in  any  more  nickels 
than  the  first  manager,  but  he  paid  less  money  to  his  pianist,  he  got 
his  film  service  at  a  lower  figure  because  he  knew  what  he  could 
afford  and  did  not  pay  more  than  it  was  worth,  and,  being  the  pro- 
jection operator  himself,  he  did  not  have  that  expense  -to  deduct 
from  the  receipts  before  calculating  his  own  personal  profits  from 
the  show  business.  The  net  profits  to  him  were  such  as  enabled 
him  to  run  the  show  year  after  year,  and  to  prove  that  the  town  would 
support  a  motion-picture  theater  when  the  theater  was  run  by*  a 
manager  who  understood  the  limitations  of  his  field  and  governed 
his  program  and  his  expense  sheet  accordingly. 

Art  of  the  Manager.    These  illustrations  of  theaters  which  have 


169 


6  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

failed  under  one  manager  and  then  have  succeeded  under  another, 
every  one  with  only  some  small  difference  in  paint,  or  program,  or 
pay  roll,  are  given  to  illustrate  the  statement  that  in  many  if  not 
nearly  all  cases  the  element  of  success  or  failure  lies  with  the  manager. 

Every  one  of  the  instances  show  merely  that  the  new  manager 
adapted  his  theater  to  the  conditions  which  he  found  existing  as 
limitations  upon  the  theater  when  he  took  charge  of  it. 

In  the  example  (1),  the  new  manager  decided  to  make  his 
theater  different  from  his  competitors  by  learning  the  particular 
things  which  would  please  his  people  and  by  giving  them  a  personal 
courteous  attention.  He  won  success. 

In  the  example  (2),  the  new  manager  decided  that  his  theater 
was  as  good  as  his  competitor's  except  that  it  had  a  sober  front, 
almost  repellent  to  the  joy  seeker.  He  changed  the  color  of  the 
front,  and  won  success  by  eliminating  his  theater's  handicap. 

In  the  example  (3),  the  new  manager  decided  that  an  ordinary 
theater  could  not  be  run  successfully  in  that  location,  so  he  tried  an 
extraordinary  program,  and  won  success. 

In  the  example  (4),  the  new  manager  decided  that  his  theater 
had  only  one  handicap  over  his  competitor,  the  quality  of  films 
and  projection.  He  removed  this  fault,  and  won  success. 

In  the  example  (5),  the  new  manager  saw  that  the  expense  could 
be  reduced  even  though  the  receipts  could  not  be  increased,  and  his 
profit  lay  in  the  difference.  Notice  that  he  did  not  give  a  poorer 
program,  but  gave  the  same  quantity  and  quality  program  at  a  smaller 
expense. 

In  (2)  and  (4),  the  new  manager  found  a  single  feature  in  which 
his  theater  was  behind  his  competitors;  he  brought  that  feature  up 
to  his  competitors  and  won  his  share  of  the  business. 

In  (1),  in  (3),  and  in  (5),'  the  location  of  the  theater  was  not 
good,  but  each  of  the  managers  found  a  different  solution;  in  (5),  it 
was  simple  economy;  in  (1),  it  was  personal  attention  to  the  likes 
and  dislikes  of  his  patrons;  in  (3),  it  was  a  Napoleonic  stroke  of 
generalship. 

Reviving  a  "Sick"  Picture  Theater.  There  is  only  one  symptom 
which  attracts  attention  to  the  disease  of  the  theater,  and  that  is  the 
lack  of  satisfactory  net  profit.  This  symptom  may  be  due  to  either 
of  two  diseases  -.first,  that  the  income  is  not  large  enough;  and  second, 


170 


SCENE  FROM  PHOTOPLAY,  "THE  LAST  APPEAL" 

Courtesy  of  Independent  Moving  Pictures  Co.,  New  York 


< 

S      .2 


H  =  3 

a  Sf 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  7 

that  the  expense  is  too  large.  In  example  (5),  the  new  manager  did 
not  think  the  income  could  be  increased,  but  he  reduced  the  expense. 
In  examples  (1),  (2),  and  (3),  the  new  manager  did  not  decrease  the 
expense,  but  by  his  skill  he  increased  the  income.  In  example  (4),  the 
new  manager  found  both  income  and  expense  too  low,  and  increased 
both,  increasing  the  income  more  than  the  expense. 

The  "sick"  picture  theater  must  be  studied  particularly  with 
reference  to  its  competition  and  its  location.  Then  the  traffic  of  the 
community  must  be  studied  to  learn  whether  there  is  sufficient  traffic 
to  support  the  theater.  The  question  of  traffic  may  be  studied  in 
two  phases:  first,  whether  there  is  enough  to  support  the  "sick" 
theater  if  it  were  to  get  its  proportion  of  the  total;  and  second,  whether 
it  is  necessary  or  advisable  to  try  to  surpass  competition  and  secure 
for  the  "sick"  theater  more  than  its  proportion.  The  second  propo- 
sition is  a  case  for  a  doctor  of  experience. 

Competition.  Study  every  point  of  difference  which  can  be  found 
between  the  theater  in  question  and  its  competitor  or  competitors: 
The  color  of  the  front;  the  decorations  of  the  front;  the  announcement 
signs  for  number,  attractiveness,  and  general  desirability;  the  poster 
service  used  for  the  films;  the  style  of  ticket  window;  the  courtesy 
of  the  cashier;  the  method  of  taking  the  tickets  at  the  door  and  the 
courtesy  of  the  doorkeeper;  the  seat  arrangement;  the  width  of  aisles 
and  the  confusion  or  convenience  of  incoming  and  outgoing  patrons 
when  the  place  is  handling  a  crowd;  the  comfort  of  the  seats,  their 
style,  their  width,  and  the  space  between  the  rows,  whether  cramped 
or  liberal  to  permit  passing  an  occupied  seat;  the  number  of  seats; 
the  decoration  of  the  walls;  the  illumination  during  the  pictures  and 
during  the  intermissions;  the  quality  of  the  films,  whether  new  or 
old  and  whether  clean  or  dirty  or  scratchy;  the  quality  of  the  pro- 
jection, whether  dim  or  brilliant,  whether  steady  in  light  or  full  of 
flicker,  whether  steady  in  position  or  full  of  jumps  and  jiggles  on 
the  screen,  and  whether  the  whole  picture  on  the  screen  rises  and 
falls  with  a  wave-like  motion;  the  quality  of  the  song  slides  and  their 
projection;  the  quality  of  the  singer;  the  music  or  entertainment 
during  intermissions  in  the  program;  the  character  of  the  vaudeville, 
and  whether  it  suits  the  audience  or  displeases  them,  being  endured 
only  for  the  remainder  of  the  program;  the  frequency  of  change  of 
program,  pictures,  songs,  and  vaudeville. 


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8  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

When  a  point  of  difference  is  found,  study  it  to  see  whether 
the  difference  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  theater  under  study  or  whether 
it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  competitor.  Then  decide  whether  any 
change  should  be  made  in  the  theater  studied. 

The  result  of  this  study  should  determine  whether  it  is  possible 
at  a  reasonable  expense  to  bring  the  theater  studied  up  to  equality 
with  its  neighbors,  and  the  study  should  permit  the  making  of  an 
expense  sheet  for  running  the  theater  in  equality  with  its  neighbors. 
The  new  expense  sheet  may  be  smaller  or  larger  than  the  old;  that 
is  immaterial,  for  the  question  is:  "What  will  be  the  expense  of 
making  this  theater  equal  to  its  neighbors  or  competitors  that  it  may 
divide  the  trade  with  them?" 

Traffic.  An  actual  "head  count"  of  the  patronage  of  the  neighbor- 
ing or  competing  theaters  must  be  made,  and  a  count  of  the  number 
of  people  "held  out"  during  the  heavier  hours  of  traffic,  if  such  occurs. 
Add  the  total  of  all  admissions  for  the  theater  studied  and  its  com- 
petitors, and  divide  by  the  number  of  theaters  for  the  hours  of  lighter 
traffic  and  divide  by  the  number  of  seats  in  the  capacity  of  the  houses 
for  the  hours  of  heavier  traffic  when  patrons  are  being  held  out  at 
the  door.  This  will  give  the  revenue  to  be  expected  in  the  theater 
studied  if  it  were  brought  up  to  quality  with  its  competitors. 

Income  vs.  Expense.  The  two  amounts  thus  obtained — the 
income  from  the  ticket  window  and  the  expense  account  for 
equaling  competition — will  give  the  profit  of  the  theater  without 
consideration  for  side  lines  of  profit. 

The  ticket-window  profit  may  be  increased  by  a  judicious  use  of 
side  lines  for  profit,  unless  the  matter  of  such  devices  has  been  abused 
and  thus  brought  into  disrepute  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  side  lines  which  may  be  considered  are:  (1)  paid  adver- 
tising on  a  drop  curtain,  displayed  during  intermissions;  (#)  paid 
advertising  slides  for  the  stereopticon;  (3)  paid  advertising  space 
on  printed  programs  handed  to  the  patrons  either  on  entering  or 
leaving  the  theater;  (4)  paid  advertising  on  hand-bills  containing 
theater  announcements  and  distributed  through  the  neighborhood; 
(£)  sales  of  candy  in  the  theater  during  the  intermissions ;  (#)  control 
or  co-operation  of  a  confectionery  and  refreshment  business  adjacent 
to  the  theater;  (7)  automatic  slot  vending  machines. 

Managing  a  Theater  for  Profit.    Continuous  study  of  the  theater, 


172 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  9 

day  by  day  and  week  by  week,  comparing  it  with  its  competitors 
and  comparing  it  with  other  theaters  at  a  distance  but  similarly 
located,  similarly  surrounded,  and  similarly  equipped,  will  enable 
the  manager  to  determine  just  what  his  theater  ought  to  do  in  the 
way  of  gross  receipts,  expense,  and  net  profits.  This  gives  him  a 
theoretical  result  which  should  be  attained  by  his  account  books. 
If  his  books  do  not  show  the  amount  of  profit,  and  from  the  different 
sources,  which  his  study  shows,  he  should  study  his  theater  as  a 
"sick  theater"  and  strive  to  learn  why  he  is  not  doing  as  well  as  his 
competitors,  or  as  well  as  some  other  theater  operated  by  another 
manager  under  comparatively  the  same  conditions.  A  study  of 
other  theaters,  near  and  far,  a  study  of  the  technical  papers,  and  a 
study  of  the  advertising  and  educational  matter  constantly  sent  out 
by  manufacturers  in  the  motion-picture  industry,  films,  machines, 
accessories,  and  sundries,  will  give  the  manager  a  correct  idea  of 
what  his  theater  should  accomplish.  Then  he  may  study  his  own 
house  to  learn  whether  it  accomplishes  what  it  should,  and  if  not, 
he  may  learn  by  still  further  study  what  is  lacking  that  prevents  it 
from  attaining  daily  its  just  deserts  and  its  maximum  profits. 

STARTING  A  THEATER 

The  first  detail  is  to  choose  a  location,  then  to  decide  how  ex- 
tensive an  investment  the  location  will  justify  because  of  its  prospective 
patronage.  After  that,  the  building  and  operating  of  the  theater 
becomes  routine  detail,  the  theater  succeeding  or  failing  according 
to  the  ability  of  the  manager,  his  attention  to  the  details  of  the  theater 
and  its  patronage,  and  his  ability  to  learn  and  understand  the  salient 
facts  in  his  studies. 

Selecting  a  Location.  Among  Competitors.  In  this  case,  the 
proposed  location  may  be  studied  as  though  the  site  were  already 
occupied  with  a  "sick  theater."  The  traffic  upon  the  existing  theaters 
may  be  tallied  up  and  expressed  in  dollars  per  week;  then  a  reason- 
able increase  may  be  figured,  for  a  new  theater  added  to  the  ones 
already  existing  will  increase  the  total  of  the  traffic.  This  total  may 
be  divided  to  learn  how  much  money  will  be  taken  at  the  ticket 
window  of  the  proposed  new  house.  Side  lines  for  profit  then  are 
studied  and  added,  the  total  income  and  the  total  expense  are  ob- 


173 


10  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

tained  and  compared,  and  the  answer  is  obtained  to  the  question: 
How  much  will  another  theater  in  this  locality  pay  in  profits? 

This  study  may  be  made  upon  the  basis  of  another  small  store- 
front theater  competing  with  one  or  two  already  established,  or  it 
may  be  made  upon  the  basis  of  constructing  a  larger  theater.  If 
a  larger  theater  is  to  be  compared  with  a  store-front  competitor,  the 
total  traffic  may  be  increased  largely,  say  doubled,  for  the  larger, 
more  pretentious  house  will  draw  traffic  over  a  larger  area,  for  a 
greater  distance  both  ways  on  the  street,  and  then  in  turn  will  take 
a  larger  share  as  its  proportion  of  the  total,  particularly  in  view  of 
larger  seating  capacity  on  the  rush  evenings  when  all  houses  are 
holding  the  patrons  out  for  want  of  seating  capacity. 

New  Territory.  The  only  difference  is  that  the  traffic  to  be  ex- 
pected is  more  indefinite  in  calculation.  It  may  be  predicted  very 
closely  by  a  "head  count"  of  the  people  passing  a  possible  location. 
The  count  should  be  made  every  evening  for  a  week,  or  during  all 
such  hours  of  the  week  as  the  theater  would  be  open  for  business. 
In  the  absence  of  other  data,  this  number  may  be  divided  by  ten  to 
obtain  the  number  of  nickels  which  may  be  expected,  or  one-half 
cent  for  each  person  passing  the  possible  theater.  Towns  vary  in 
this  respect.  To  obtain  the  proper  figure  for  the  town  in  which  the 
possible  theater  is  being  studied,  go  to  other  theaters  in  the  town, 
count  for  a  few  evenings  the  number  of  people  passing  the  theater 
and  the  number  of  people  passing  into  the  theater,  and  learn  whether 
the  theater  gets  one  out  of  eight,  or  one  out  of  twelve,  or  one  out  of 
twenty  who  pass  the  door.  To  the  casual  mind,  the  following  law 
may  seem  without  reason,  but  it  will  hold  true:  The  proportion  of 
people  who  pass  into  an  ordinary  picture  theater  to  the  people  who 
pass  by  will  be  about  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the  same  city,  and  the 
patronage  of  a  theater  in  open  territory  may  be  predicted  from  a  count 
of  passers  at  the  site  where  it  is  proposed  to  start  the  theater. 

Having  thus  by  "head  count"  obtained  a  figure  for  the  ticket 
window  receipts,  the  expenditure  for  establishing  the  theater,  and 
the  pay  roll  for  operating  it  may  be  determined  in  advance,  and  a 
theater  may  be  built  in  that  location  which  will  pay  a  reasonable 
profit  on  its  investment  and  running  expenses — in  short,  a  success- 
ful theater  may  be  established,  because  it  will  be  established  in  har- 
mony with  the  possibilities  of  its  location  and  environment. 


174 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  11 

A  person  looking  for  a  theater  location  will  find  many  "possible" 
places  where  he  might  rent  or  build  and  start  his  theater.  All  of 
these,  or  at  least  several  of  the  more  promising  of  them,  should  be 
studied  carefully  and  in  detail,  making  up  an  income  and  expense 
account  for  each  of  the  locations;  then  the  best  may  be  selected  and 
the  theater  started. 

Small  Town.  This  is  a  case  for  study,  not  so  much  to  determine 
the  place  in  the  town  where  the  theater  should  be  located,  but  to 
determine  whether  the  town  itself  is  a  suitable  location  for  a  theater, 
whether  it  will  support  a  theater  and  how  much  of  an  investment 
and  pay  roll  will  be  justified. 

The  "head  count"  for  a  town  so  small  that  only  one  theater  is 
possible  may  be  taken  from  the  census  reports.  Any  town  of  1,000 
people  will  support  a  motion-picture  theater  if  it  is  run  by  the  right 
man  and  in  the  right  way.  It  is  found  that  a  "one  theater"  town 
will  pay  weekly  at  the  ticket  window  from  two  and  one-half  to  five 
cents  per  capita  on  its  census  population.  A  town  of  1,000  people 
will  yield  from  $25  to  $50  per  week  on  a  show  running  six  nights  per 
week  and  Saturday  afternoon  or  whatever  day  of  the  week  the  coun- 
try people  use  for  market  day,  usually  Saturday,  but  not  always. 

The  gross  revenue  of  the  small  town  being  determined  by  mul- 
tiplying the  census  population  by  a  reasonable  amount  to  be  ex- 
pected, say  three  and  one-half  or  four  cents  per  week,  it  remains  for 
the  prospective  theater  manager  and  owner  to  decide  whether  he 
can  bring  his  expense  sheet  sufficiently  below  the  gross  receipts  to 
leave  an  acceptable  profit  for  his  time  and  whether  with  such  an 
expense  sheet  he  can  give  an  acceptable  show  which  will  continue  to 
bring  the  money  after  the  first  few  weeks,  when  the  novelty  of  the 
theater  has  worn  away. 

The  manager  must  make  himself  thoroughly  familiar  with  any 
city  ordinances  regulating  the  operation  of  motion-picture  theaters. 
Even  small  towns  are  having  such  laws  enacted. 

Financing.  For  the  man  who  believes  that  he  can  make  money 
in  managing  a  picture  theater,  whether  he  has  experience  in  the 
picture  theater  business  or  not,  yet  who  has  not  the  necessary  funds 
for  starting  it,  there  occurs  the  problem  of  securing  the  money,  and 
upon  such  terms  as  will  yield  him  a  profit  and  not  pass  all  the  profits  to 
the  capitalist  who  furnishes  the  money  and  does  no  work. 


175 


12  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

For  a  small  enterprise,  which  will  not  require  more  than,  say 
$2,000,  with  anticipated  profits  (excluding  manager)  of  $50  to  $75 
per  week,  the  manager  and  promoter  may  profitably  arrange  to 
"split  the  profits"  with  the  capitalist.  This  will  yield  the  manager 
a  revenue  of  $25  to  $37.50  per  week  if  he  can  run  the  theater  accord- 
ing to  his  expectations,  while  the  capitalist,  who  is  sole  owner  of  the 
theater  under  the  agreement,  will  receive  a  liberal  return  on  his  in- 
vestment, even  allowing  for  depreciation  of  the  theater  fittings. 

For  a  larger  enterprise  involving  much  more  capital  the  capitalist 
may  insist  upon  an  unequal  division  of  profits,  because  the  anticipated 
salary  for  the  manager  and  promoter  would  look  large.  In  such  an 
instance,  the  manager  should  insist  upon  a  fixed  salary  for  himself 
carried  as  a  part  of  the  expense  pay  roll  of  the  theater;  and  in  addi- 
tion an  unequal  division  of  the  net  profits,  giving  the  capitalist  the 
greater  portion. 

For  any  enterprise  where  more  than  one  man  puts  up  any  money, 
a  form  of  stock  company  or  partnership  agreement  should  be  drawn 
up  and  signed  by  all.  This  cannot  be  much  more  than  informal 
unless  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  attorney-at-law  for  proper  form, 
but  in  any  event  it  should  be  a  signed  agreement.  In  such  a  financing 
plan,  the  manager  operating  the  theater  will  receive  a  salary  as  a 
theater  expense,  and  all  profits  will  be  divided  by  the  partners  or 
stockholders  in  proportion  to  the  amounts  of  money  each  of  them 
furnished.  A  share  of  the  net  profits  is  provided  for  the  manager 
and  promoter  by  giving  him  a  share  in  the  ownership  which  he  earns 
by  his  work  in  organizing  the  company  instead  of  by  paying  cash. 
This  may  be  one-tenth  to  one-half  stock  interest  or  ownership. 

A  Store=Front  City  Theater  Building.  A  vacant  business  house 
having  been  selected  both  for  location  and  for  size,  the  process  of  con- 
verting it  into  a  motion-picture  theater  is  to  remove  the  glass  front  and 
framing  for  the  door  and  window,  to  replace  it  with  a  closed  front 
a  few  feet  back  from  the  sidewalk  line  into  which  are  built  the  ticket 
seller's  booth  and  the  entrance  and  exit  doors  and  on  the  inside  of 
which  is  built  the  projection  operator's  booth.  At  the  inner  end  of 
the  room  a  muslin  screen  about  3  by  4  yards  is  stretched.  The  room 
is  filled  with  rows  of  chairs,  either  kitchen  chairs  or  opera  chairs,  as 
the  expense  justified  by  the  location  will  permit,  and  a  piano  is  placed 
near  the  picture  screen. 


176 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  13 

Floor  Plan.  A  few  general  rules  which  may  be  followed  in  floor- 
plan  construction  are  given  herewith;  aside  from  these  a  large  varia- 
tion in  floor  plan  is  possible. 

The  projecting  machine  should  be  at  one  end  of  the  room  and 
the  picture  screen  at  the  other  end,  both  being  so  high  above  the  floor 
that  the  rays  of  light  from  the  projecting  machine  to  the  lower  edge  of 
the  screen  will  not  be  interrupted  by  patrons  passing  down  the  aisle. 

The  front  of  the  room  must  be  closed  against  the  lights  of  the  street, 
even  when  a  patron  is  entering. 

The  operator's  room  must  be  laid  out  with  reference  to  comfort 
and  convenience,  6  feet  square  is  a  desirable  smaller  limit. 

The  floor  space,  if  limited,  must  be  laid  out  to  seat  as  many  people 
as  possible,  up  to  the  number  which  the  traffic  study  will  require. 


Fig.  1.     Floor  Plan  for  a  Small  Store  -Front  Theater 


The  operator's  booth  must  be  lined  with  sheet  iron,  top,  bottom, 
and  sides,  with  a  door  having  a  latch,  and  with  two  look-out  holes, 
one  for  the  beam  of  light  from  the  lenses  and  another  at  least  a  foot 
square  and  with  the  center  at  the  height  of  the  operator's  eye,  through 
which  the  operator  may  look  to  see  his  picture  on  the  screen;  these 
requirements  are  for  protection  against  fire. 

A  floor  plan  which  is  adaptable  to  the  general  requirements  of 
any  store-front  theater  is  given  in  Fig.  1.  This  shows  an  arrangement 
for  the  maximum  seating  capacity  for  a  store  room  22  feet  by  58  feet  in- 
side the  walls.  The  seating  capacity  shown  is  192.  The  front  partition 
of  the  theater  is  placed  6  feet  back  from  the  sidewalk.  The  ticket 
booth  extends  forward  from  this  partition.  A  still  deeper  front  is 
desirable  if  the  floor  space  can  be  spared;  it  gives  advertising  space; 


177 


14  .THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

it  gives  opportunity  for  decorative  efforts  without  the  expense  of 
decorating  the  entire  front  of  the  business  house;  it  suggests  retire- 
ment in  the  theater,  and  when  the  prospective  patron  steps  off  the 
sidewalk  he  feels  that  he  is  already  within  the  theater,  even  before 
he  has  purchased  his  admission  ticket. 

The  entrance  and  exit  doors  in  the  partition  should  be  double 
doors.  The  entrance  doors  at  A  should  swing  both  ways,  while  the 
exit  doors  at  B  should  swing  outward  but  not  inward. 

The  ticket  booth  in  Fig.  1  is  6  feet  by  5  feet  inside,  with  a  shelf 
1  foot  wide  across  the  front  for  making  change.  The  three  glass 
windows  should  be  made  with  removable  sash  in  order  that  screen 
wire  or  grille  may  be  substituted  in  the  warm  weather. 

The  operating  booth  occupying  the  upper  part  of  the  space  D 
is  built  over  the  ticket  booth  upon  an  elevated  platform  about  5 
by  9  feet  in  size.  As  the  patrons  of  the  theater  are  required  to  pass 
under  this  platform  it  should  be  built  upon  a  platform  about  7  feet 
from  the  floor.  A  stanchion  is  set  from  floor  to  ceiling  at  E,  about 
9  feet  from  the  side  wall  and  5  feet  from  the  partition,  and  with  this 
stanchion  as  a  corner  post  a  platform  is  built  to  cover  the  space  D, 
then  closed  in  with  walls  from  the  platform  to  the  ceiling  to  form  the 
operating  room.  Windows  for  projection  and  lookout  are  left  in  the 
wall  toward  the  screen  J,  and  another  window  may  be  left  in  the 
end  for  ventilation  and  over  the  doors  A  in  the  partition.  Entrance 
to  the  operating  room  is  obtained  by  means  of  the  ladder  at  F,  which 
extends  upward  along  the  wall  and  through  a  hole  about  30  inches 
square  in  the  floor  of  the  operating  room. 

Below  the  operating-room  platform,  extending  from  the  stanchion 
E  to  the  wall,  a  screen  G  should  be  placed  to  prevent  the  light  of  the 
street  from  reaching  the  screen  when  the  doors  A  are  open;  this 
may  be  a  curtain  hung  from  the  edge  of  the  operator's  booth.  The 
doorkeeper  stands  at  the  post  marked  H.  A  movable  chain  or  bar 
is  provided  to  extend  from  the  stanchion  E  to  the  wall  of  the  ticket 
booth  to  close  the  passage  at  the  dotted  line  /.  This  enables  the 
doorkeeper  to  hold  back  patrons  who  come  so  near  the  close  of  a 
picture  or  act  that  they  would  be  interfered  with  by  patrons  passing 
out,  or  by  patrons  for  whom  there  is  no  seat. 

The  piano  may  be  at  K,  either  automatic  or  manual.  The  screen 
J  is  shown  at  one  side  of  the  center;  this  has  two  advantages  in  the 


178 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  15 

floor  plan  as  shown.  It  gives  more  room  for  the  piano  and  singer  at 
the  side  of  the  screen,  and  it  brings  the  center  of  the  screen  nearer 
to  the  direct  line  from  the  projection  machine  at  the  end  I  of  the 
operating  room  at  D. 

Another  method  of  building  an  operating  room  is  to  build  it 
over  the  cashier's  booth,  extending  through  the  partition  and  pro- 
jecting into  the  theater  room  as  far  as  the  stanchion  E.  Set  two 
stanchions  like  E  and  build  the  platform  to  the  ceiling,  placing  the 
ladder  F  beside  the  short  wall  of  the  cashier  ticket  seller's  booth, 
just  inside  the  entrance  door.  The  projecting  machine  will  stand 
against  the  wall  of  the  operating  room  at  the  exit-door  side,  and  the 
projection  and  look-out  windows  should  be  placed  in  the  front  wall 
accordingly. 

A  space  of  6  or  8  feet  between  the  front  chairs  and  the  picture 
screen  should  be  allowed,  as  the  pictures  cannot  be  viewed  at  a  very 
close  range.  If  the  seats  marked  X  are  left  out,  the  added  con- 
venience to  patrons  in  passing  out  of  the  theater  may  more  than 
compensate  for  the  decreased  seating  capacity. 

Lighting  Methods.  Ceiling  lights,  say  a  sixteen-candle-power 
lamp  for  each  50  square  feet  of  floor,  should  burn  during  the  inter- 
missions. Shaded  wall  lamps,  say  an  eight-candle-power  lamp 
every  10  or  12  feet  along  each  wall,  should  burn  all  the  time,  includ- 
ing the  time  during  the  pictures.  The  wall  lamps  should  be  so 
shaded  that  the  light  will  not  shine  upon  the  picture  screen  nor 
upon  the  eyes  of  the  audience. 

The  term  "daylight-theater"  is  used  to  designate  a  theater  in 
which  the  auditorium  lights  are  not  turned  off  during  the  projection 
of  the  pictures.  This  result  is  attained  by  hanging  the  ceiling  lamps 
in  sixty-degree  conical  shades,  or  the  equivalent  in  ornamental  shades, 
so  that  the  light  from  each  ceiling  lamp  covers  a  circle  on  the  floor 
under  the  lamp  but  does  not  shine  on  the  picture  screen,  nor  does 
it  shine  back  toward  the  entrance  into  the  eyes  of  the  seated  patrons. 
The  lamps  thus  shaded  must  be  distributed  over  the  theater  ceiling, 
and  not  grouped,  as  then  the  desired  effect  would  be  lost. 

Low-Cost  Store  Front.  To  build  for  the  lowest  cost  of  starting 
operation,  in  a  location  where  only  the  minimum  expense  is  justified 
or  where  only  the  minimum  expense  is  desired,  the  front  partition 
may  be  modeled  upon  the  style  shown  in  Fig.  2.  This  is  all  simple 


179 


16 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


carpenter  work  and  painter  work.  The  complete  change  in  the  store 
room,  ready  for  chairs,  piano,  wiring  and  projecting  machine,  should 
not  exceed  $150;  200  chairs  of  the  kitchen  variety  at  $100;  electric 
lamps  and  wiring  at  $100;  a  projecting  machine  at  $165;  and  a  rented 
piano — the  total  expense  amounting  to  about  $500.  With  a  small 
additional  amount  for  supplies  and  initial  advertising  expense,  the 
manager  will  be  able  to  open  his  doors  to  the  public  at  a  total  cash 
expense  of  not  more  than  $600,  and  no  debts. 

Only  country  towns  of  small  size  without  competition,  or  un- 


Fig.  2.    A  Simple  Front  Design  for  a  Store-Front  Theater 

occupied  or  non-competitive  city  territory,  will  permit  a  successful 
theater  with  so  simple  an  establishment. 

Such  a  theater  could  be  established  upon  a  prospective  ticket 
sale  of  $110  to  $150  per  week,  since  the  return  for  the  manager's 
labor  and  a  return  for  the  cash  invested  must  be  earned  in  addition 
to  the  expense  sheet  given  below.  The  item  of  "Supplies"  includes 
tickets,  carbons,  condensers,  lamp  renewals,  machine  repair  parts 
etc.,  and  piano  tuning,  including  in  this  case  also  the  rent  of  the  piano. 
This  is  a  fair  expense  account  for  a  small  city  house,  even  though  at 


180 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  17 

a  much  larger  initial  cost,  where  competition  does  not  compel  a  larger 
expense,  yet  where  the  patrons  constantly  are  comparing  this  residence 
district  theater  with  the  more  pretentious  down-town  motion-picture 
theaters.  With  such  distant  competition  for  comparison,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  maintain  a  quality  of  picture  projection  and  music  which 
will  stand  the  comparison,  if  the  theater  is  to  be  a  continued  business 
with  profits. 

The  cost  of  operating  this  theater,  evenings  only — for  it  would 
be  either  in  a  small  town  or  in  a  residence  territory  of  a  city — for  a 
program  of  two  reels  of  film  and  a  song,  would  be,  by  the  week,  about 
as  follows : 

Rent  and  heat.  .  ..   $  10.00 


Film  

20.00 

Song  Slides  
Supplies                 .    . 

2.00 
13  00 

Operator  
Cashier  
Doorkeeper 

15.00 
3.00 
5  00 

Pianist 

5  00 

Singer 

5  00 

Weekly  Expense $  83.00 

In  a  non-competitive  small  city,  not  only  will  the  rent  be  lower, 
but  the  wage  rate  will  be  lower  throughout. 

Elaborate  Store-Front.  The  floor  plan  will  be  the  same  in  this 
case  as  in  Fig.  1,  the  difference  being  found  in  the  quality  and  appear- 
ance of  the  elements  going  to  make  up  the  theater. 

A  decorative  front  such  as  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  3  will  cost  $500 
to  $2,000  for  the  front  partition  complete  with  operating  room  and 
cashier's  booth,  including  all  the  decoration  in  front  of  the  partition. 
Another  $500  or  more  will  be  needed  to  raise  the  floor  and  to  install 
200  opera  chairs  at  $1.20  to  $1.60  each.  The  inside  decorations  and 
the  picture  screen  of  modern  type  will  raise  the  expense  $200  to  $300 
at  least.  The  total  expense  need  not  exceed  $6,000;  with  any  pre- 
tensions toward  beauty  and  luxury,  it  cannot  be  kept  below  $2,000. 

For  designing  and  building  the  front,  a  firm  in  the  special  work 
should  be  employed,  unless  the  manager  who  is  starting  the  theater 
is  of  long  experience  and  knows  exactly  what  he  wants.  The  large 
number  of  such  theaters  which  have  been  built  has  developed  con- 


181 


18 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


struction  firms  and  workmen  particularly  skilled  in  such  work,  whose 
very  presence  on  the  job  will  insure  that  refinement  and  perfection 
of  detail  which  the  manager  desires  but  which  the  inexperienced 


Pig.  3.    A  Decorative  Front  Design  for  Store-Front  Theater. 

manager  employing  inexperienced  workmen  is  likely  to  overlook, 
leaving  his  house  inferior  to  those  of  his  competitors. 

In  selecting  or  approving  a  plan  by  a  professional  designer,  the 
manager  should  see  that  the  cashier's  booth  is  large  enough  for  com- 
fort all  the  year  round  and  that  the  projection  operator's  booth  is  large 


182 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  19 

enough  for  two  operators  and  two  projecting  machines.  Not  only  may 
competition  enforce  the  employment  of  two  operators,  but  it  will 
be  found  positive  economy  to  give  the  operator  an  assistant  during 
the  rush  hours  of  Saturday  night. 

In  a  house  of  this  class,  a  manager's  control  panel  and  signal 
system  should  be  installed  at  the  door  where  the  ticket-taker  stands, 
that  he  may  signal  the  operator  to  begin  projection,  and  may  ring 
for  the  singer,  etc.,  controlling  the  conduct  of  the  program  par- 
ticularly during  the  rush  hours  when  the  passing  of  numbers  of 
people  in  or  out  may  delay  the  beginning  of  the  next  picture. 

The  program  selected — by  this  term  "program"  is  included 
the  quality  as  well  as  quantity  of  pictures,  song,  music,  and  vaude- 
ville— must  follow  the  custom  of  the  city  in  which  the  theater  is 
located,  if  the  certainty  of  a  proper  division  of  patronage  is  desired. 
A  departure  from  the  custom  of  the  city  may  result  in  a  larger  suc- 
cess, or  may  result  in  failure.  Such  a  departure  was  made  in  the 
theater  discussed  in  "Change  of  Management  (3),"  and  serves  as 
an  example. 

A  specimen  expense  sheet  of  a  high-class  store-front  picture 
theater  is  here  given. 

WEEKLY    EXPENSE    SHEET 

Rent,  of  complete  theater,  week $  40.00 

Film  rent,  three  reels  daily  change. .  .  50 .00 

Carbons 1 .00 

Pianist 15.00 

Violinist 10 .00 

Drummer 12.00 

Usher 2.50 

Electricity 18.00 

Song  Slides 2.00 

Cashier 5.00 

Singer 18.00 

License 4.00 

Projection  operator 18 .00 

Porter 4.00 

Ticket  taker 5.00 

General  Expense 10.00 

Total  weekly  expense,  not  including 

manager $214.50 

Receipts,  average,  six  nights  $240,  Sunday  $100;  total  weekly  receipts, 
average,  $340. 


183 


20  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Specimen  Expense  Sheet  of  a  High-Class  Store-Front  Picture  Theater. 
The  figures  given  above  are  the  actual  expense  sheet  of  a  house  of  this  class 
in  a  residence  district  of  Chicago.  The  rent  item  is  the  amount  paid  per  week, 
making  a  rental  of  $173  per  month  or  $2,080  per  year,  but  this  is  for  the  house 
equipped  with  chairs  and  projecting  machine,  so  that  the  expense  sheet  is 
carrying  the  item  of  depreciation  of  investment  as  a  part  of  the  rent  item. 
The  cost  of  opening  this  house  for  business  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  $3,000. 

This  particular  theater  charges  a  five-cent  admission  seven  days  in  the 
week.  The  seating  capacity  is  300.  A  one-hour  program  is  given  at  7,  8,  9, 
and  10  P.M.  on  week  days  and  at  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10  P.M.  on  Sundays — 
thirty- three  shows  per  week,  three  reels  and  a  song  in  each  program.  The 
film  is  one  reel  third-run,  one  reel  not  more  than  ten  days  old,  and  one  reel 
not  more  than  three  months  old,  daily  change,  for  which  $50  per  week  is  paid. 
Two  different  songs  are  given,  alternating  in  every  other  program,  with  one 
singer.  Music  is  furnished  by  an  orchestra  of  three.  The  item  of  "Sundry 
Expense"  includes  tickets,  coal,  condensers,  poster  service,  machine  repairs, 
lamp  renewals,  piano  tuning,  etc. 

In  this  theater,  the  manager  takes  profits  rather  than  a  salary.  He  has 
no  capital  invested,  but  in  the  $40  per  week  rent  he  is  paying  a  return  to  the 
capitalist  for  the  investment. 

Sloping  Floor.  This  method  of  floor  construction  raises  the 
eyes  of  patrons  in  the  back  seats  above  the  heads  in  the  front  rows, 
giving  the  patrons  at  the  back  of  the  house  a  better  view  of  the  pic- 
ture screen  or  stage.  The  sloping-floor  construction  is  necessary 
in  houses  classing  above  the  simplest  of  store-front  theaters.  It  is 
a  good  bid  for  business  to  equal  or  excel  a  competitor,  because  it 
gives  a  greater  comfort  to  the  patron,  and  makes  the  picture  theater 
resemble  more  closely  the  larger,  more  pretentious  city  houses. 

A  side  view  of  a  store-front  theater  with  one  wall  removed  is 
shown  in  Fig.  4.  This  shows  the  sloping  floor,  and  one  method  of 
constructing  it  for  store-front  houses.  Where  the  building  is  erected 
specially  for  theater  purposes,  even  though  it  be  a  part  of  a  business 
block  and  a  store-front  in  appearance,  this  plan  is  easily  followed, 
but  where  an  old  building  is  remodeled  it  is  necessary  to  cut  the  floor 
joists  at  the  picture  screen  end  if  the  entrance  doors  are  to  be  level 
with  the  street  or  sidewalk. 

A  raised  floor  may  be  constructed  upon  the  store-room  floor  by 
building  a  few  low  trestles  or  "horses"  across  the  house,  say  18 
inches  or  2  feet  high  at  the  street  partition  of  the  house,  and  getting 
lower  toward  the  picture  screen.  Joists  for  the  inclined  floor  are 
laid  sloping  upon  these  trestles,  and  taper  to  a  point  at  the  toe  where 
the  new  sloping  floor  meets  the  old  level  floor.  The  slope  may  extend 


184 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER 


21 


two-thirds  the  way  to  the  picture  screen,  and  the  front  third  of  the 
house  may  be  level. 

Steps  may  be  built  between  the  street  level  and  the  raised  floor, 
or  the  floor  may  be  sloped  up  from  the  street  line  to  avoid  steps, 
even  carrying  a  slope  into  the  aisle  of  the  theater. 

The  floor  plan  arrangement  for  the  street  end  of  the  theater 
of  Fig.  1  is  suitable  for  the  theater  of  Fig.  4,  or  the  projection  booth 
may  be  built  over  the  ticket  booth. 

In  the  theater  of  Fig.  4,  the  requirement  for  the  height  of  the 
projection  room  floor  and  for  the  height  of  the  projection  window 
is  that  the  rays  of  light  from  the  lens  to  the  lower  edge  of  the  picture 
screen  should  clear  the  heads  of  persons  standing  in  the  aisle. 

A  comfortable  amount  of  slope  for  the  theater  floor  is  l_foojtjn 
8.  This  is  the  slope  shown  in  Fig.  4. 

Seats  upon  a  sloping  floor  must  be  the  "theater  seat"  as  shown 
in  end  view  in  Fig.  4;  or  if  chairs  the  legs  must  be  sawed  to  make 


Fig.  4.   Theater  with  Sloping  Floor 

the  chair  comfortable.  When  theater  seats  are  bought,  it  should  be 
specified  that  they  are  for  use  upon  a  sloping  floor,  and  they  will 
be  furnished  accordingly  by  the  manufacturer.  The  seats  between 
the  bottom  of  the  slope  and  the  picture  screen  are  ordered  for  level 
floor. 

Stage.  If  a  stage  is  to  be  built,  either  for  vaudeville  purposes, 
or  for  scenic  effect  in  the  theater,  the  stage  floor  should  be  3  feet 
above  the  theater  floor  in  front  of  the  stage.  The  proscenium  arch 
in  such  a  stage  may  extend  to  within  1  foot  of  a  low  ceiling,  and 
within  3  feet  of  each  side  wall. 


185 


22  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

If  for  decorative  effect  only,  the  picture  screen  may  be  stretched 
permanently  across  the  opening.  The  projected  picture  should  be 
kept  a  foot  or  two  above  the  bottom  of  the  screen. 

If  for  use  for  vaudeville,  the  stage  should  be  10  or  12  feet  deep, 
with  two  wings  on  each  side.  An  interior  flat  should  be  at  the  back 
and  a  street  scene  half-way  between  the  back  flat  and  the  drop  curtain. 
The  picture  screen  should  be  at  the  front,  just  behind  the  drop  cur- 
tain. By  "interior  flat"  is  meant  a  flat  painted  scene  showing  the 
interior  of  a  room.  There  may  be  two  pairs  of  wings  for  the  interior 
scene  setting  and  one  pair  of  wings  for  the  street  scene,  with  flies 
sufficient  to  conceal  the  ceiling  from  the  patrons  in  the  front  row  of 
chairs. 

If  the  stage  is  used  for  vaudeville,  footlights  must  be  installed, 
with  switch  at  the  ticket-taker's  station  at  the  entrance,  and  the 
projection  operator  must  be  provided  with  a  mask  for  his  stereopticon 
which  will  cover  the  stage  opening  but  not  the  sides  of  the  arch. 

Picture  Screen.  For  a  screen  against  a  wall,  the  wall  may  be 
painted  white,  or  given  a  "white  finish"  coat,  such  as  plasterers  use 
in  finishing  a  wall  smooth.  Over  this  white  surface,  stretch  a  sheet 
of  thin  muslin,  with  as  few  seams  as  possible.  Have  the  seams  run 
horizontally,  and  tack  the  muslin  all  around  the  edges.  A  neat  and 
inexpensive  finish  is  obtained  by  nailing  to  the  wall  a  frame  of  wide 
picture-molding,  mitering  the  corners  as  though  the  screen  were 
framed  and  hung  upon  the  wall. 

Any  wall  screen  or  drop  curtain  screen  may  be  treated  by  a  coat 
of  paint  containing  finely  divided  particles  of  some  glittering  sub- 
stance, such  as  finely-divided  aluminum  dust,  or  finely-powdered 
glass,  or  the  curtain  may  be  painted  with  any  sticky  paint  and  the 
metallic  dust  or  powdered  glass  thrown  or  blown  upon  it  and,  when 
the  sticky  paint  dries,  a  glittering  surface  will  remain  upon  the  screen 
producing  what  is  known  as  the  metal-surfaced  screen.  These  tricks 
of  producing  metal  surfaces  are  well  known  by  sign  painters. 

The  picture  projected  upon  such  a  metallic-surfaced  screen  is 
more  brilliant  in  its  light  portions,  while  retaining  all  the  detail  of 
its  darker  or  shadowy  portions.  At  the  same  time,  the  dead  white 
screen  may  be  a  matter  of  personal  preference,  or  where  all  com- 
petitors use  a  metallic  surface,  the  dead  white  of  thin  cloth  backed 
by  white  plaster  cleaned  from  dust  occasionally  to  keep  it  white, 


186 


If 

r 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  23 

and  kept  free  from  stains  at  all  times,  together  with  a  smaller  and 
brighter  picture,  may  be  urged  as  an  advertising  point  of  advantage 
over  the  methods  of  competitors. 

The  mirror  screen  increases  the  brilliancy  of  a  picture.  Also, 
it  is  likely  to  give  "haloes"  or  radiant  bright  spots  to  some  places  of 
the  auditorium  if  the  surfacing  is  not  sufficiently  dense.  The  cost 
runs  to  $300  or  $400. 

The  theoretical  mirror  screen  as  announced  to  the  public 
consists  of  a  sheet  of  plate  glass,  the  size  of  the  projected  picture; 
this  glass  is  silvered  upon  the  back  and  ground  to  a  smooth  ground- 
glass  finish  upon  the  front  surface.  The  ground-glass  surface  gives 
a  good  screen  surface  for  projection,  even  if  not  backed,  being  equiva- 
lent to  a  surface  of  finely-powdered  glass,  but  all  light  which  passes 
\hrough  the  ground-glass  surface  is  reflected  by  the  mirror  back  to 
the  surface  again  and  through  it  to  the  spectators  in  the  theater. 
The  result  is  a  large  increase  in  brilliancy  in  the  picture  projected 
with  the  same  conditions  of  lamp  and  lenses. 

Mirror  screens  are  made  also  by  painting  the  surface  of  a  large 
mirror  with  a  frosting  surface,  such  as  a  thin  mixture  of  English 
"wjiiting"  with  water  and  a  little  glue.  A  substitute  for  the  real 
mirror  screen  is  a  mirror  over  which  is  stretched  a  sheet  of  thin 
muslin.  The  muslin  should  be  seamless — muslin  sheeting  8  feet 
wide  may  be  obtained  in  the  market — or  the  seams  must  be  made 
by  setting  the  two  selvedged  edges  against  each  other  and  whipping 
them  together  with  a  very  fine  stitch  without  lapping  the  fabric. 
Where  a  lap  seam  is  used,  the  mirror  behind  the  fabric  shows  the 
seam  so  very  plainly  that  it  becomes  decidedly  objectionable. 

The  thin  fabric  screen  backed  by  a  mirror  is  an  improvement 
upon  the  fabric  screen  backed  by  a  white  wall.  The  cheapness  of 
such  an  arrangement  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  mirror  used  to 
back  such  a  fabric  screen  may  be  made  economically  of  small  sheets 
of  silvered  glass  rather  than  of  a  single  large  sheet,  the  small  sheets 
being  set  snugly  together  without  bevel  edges  and  without  mounting, 
that  the  lines  of  joining  may  not  be  noticed  by  the  patrons.  Small 
clamps  may  hold  the  mirrors  to  a  supporting  wall  or  vertical  plat- 
form, care  being  taken  to  make  the  entire  mirror  surface  flat. 

Where,  because  of  clearing  the  stage  for  vaudeville  acts,  it  is 
necessary  to  roll  the  picture  screen,  the  screen  must  be  made  of 


187 


24  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

opaque  white  fabric,  and  fitted  with  a  heavy  roller  to  stretch  it  when 
rolled  down,  or  tackle  must  be  used  at  the  bottom  to  stretch  it.  A 
waving  curtain  produces  a  very  objectionable  effect  in  the  picture. 
Metallic  surfaces  have  been  used  on  roller  picture  screens.  Great 
care  must  be  used  to  avoid  wrinkles  when  the  metallic  surface  is 
•used,  for  the  small  wrinkles  are  much  emphasized  by  the  reflecting 
nature  of  the  sparkling  surface. 

Special  Buildings.  A  theater  building  having  a  50-foot  front 
and  seating  five  hundred  or  more  people  may  be  built  at  a  cost  aside 
from  the  lot  of  $10,000  to  $20,000,  according  to  design  and  location. 
Such  houses  usually  are  run  to  a  longer  program  than  an  hour  of 
pictures,  being  vaudeville  houses  rather  than  simple  picture  houses. 

The  principles  of  operating  such  a  house  do  not  vary  from  those 
of  the  smaller  picture  theaters.  The  same  tact,  skill,  and  ability  to 
learn  from  experience  and  from  observation  of  other  houses  of  the 
class  are  required  of  the  manager.  The  same  balancing  of  gross 
income  against .  expense,  and  the  same  possibilities  of  side  lines  for 
additional  profits,  exist. 

A  house  of  this  size  in  the  residence  districts  usually  runs  a  vaude- 
ville program  and  charges  an  admission  of  ten  cents  or  more. 

EXAMPLE  OF  SPECIAL  THEATER  BUILDING.  The  class  of  theater  occupy- 
ing a  specially  constructed  building,  in  the  residence  districts  of  Chicago,  is 
well  represented  by  the  particular  theater  from  which  the  following  facts  are 
taken: 

The  lot,  50  by  125  feet,  upon  which  the  building  is  erected,  was  estimated 
in  value  at  $10,000;  and  the  erection  of  the  building  and  its  equipment  ready 
for  the  public,  cost  $15,000,  making  a  total  expense  in  the  building  itself  of 
$25,000.  For  this  investment  the  owner  takes  a  rental  of  $5,200  per  year  from 
the  receipts  of  the  theater.  This  item  is  considered  an  item  of  rent  in  the  theater 
expense  sheet,  and  is  paid  weekly  at  the  rate  of  $100  per  week,  as  rent. 

The  program  consists  of  four  acts  of  vaudeville,  two  reels  of  film,  and  a 
song.  There  is  an  orchestra  of  four  pieces.  The  program  lasts  about  an  hour 
and  a  half  to  an  hour  and  three-quarters.  The  program  is  given  twice  each 
night,  once  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  once  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  twice 
on  Sunday  afternoon;  eighteen  performances  per  week,  of  which  four  are  on 
Sunday.  In  case  of  a  long  vaudeville  program,  the  song  is  omitted. 

The  house  contains  800  seats,  of  which  600  are  on  the  main  floor  and 
200  on  the  balcony.  Of  these,  350  seats  are  sold  at  twenty  cents  and  450  at 
ten  cents;  the  total  value  of  a  full  house  is  $115.  An  average  evening  in  fair 
weather  is  a  house  and  a  half  for  the  two  performances.  Of  the  twenty-cent 
seats,  fifty  are  the  front  rows  of  the  balcony;  this  raises  the  tone  of  the  balcony 
as  a  seat  location  and  helps  to  sell  the  house  out  when  nearly  full. 

The  film  service  is  one  reel  ten  days  old  and  one  reel  not  more  than  three 


188 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  25 

months  old,  change  twice  a  week;  for  this  service,  the  price  paid  is  $20  per 
week.  The  entire  program,  vaudeville  and  film  and  song,  is  changed  twice 
each  week. 

The  illustrated  song  slides,  when  used,  and  the  singer  as  well,  are  fur- 
nished free  by  the  music  publishers  for  the  advertising  value. 

WEEKLY    EXPENSE   OF  A  SMALL   VAUDEVILLE  THEATER 

Rent,  per  week $100.00 

Film  service,  per  week 20 .00 

Carbons 1 .00 

Orchestra  of  four  pieces,  per  week ....  91 . 00 

Two  ushers : .  5 .00 

One  fire  guard 7 .00 

One  stage  manager 20 .00 

One  stage  helper 7 .00 

Electricity,  per  week 30 .00 

Cashier 7.00 

License 4 . 00 

Poster  title  service 5 .00 

Projection  operator. 18.00 

Vaudeville,  average  weekly 500 .00 

Porter  and  watchman 12 .00 

Ticket  taker 8 .00 

Sundry  small  expenses,  average  per 

week    .  25.00 


Weekly  expense  sheet $860 .00 

Average  receipts  for  six  days,  fourteen  performances,  $900.00;  for 
Sunday,  four  performances,  $315.  Average  weekly  receipts,  $1,215. 

Large  Exclusive  Picture  House.  Only  in  the  shopping  district 
of  a  city  can  a  sufficient  number  of  patrons  be  found  to  fill  a  large 
house  repeatedly  for  short  programs.  The  data  given  here  for  such 
a  theater  is  taken  from  a  theater  on  the  busiest  retail  business  street 
of  one  of  the  largest  cities  of  the  United  States,  a  theater  representative 
of  the  highest  class  of  motion-picture  theater. 

The  house  is  open  fourteen  hours  per  day,  seven  days  each 
week,  from  9  A.  M.  until  11  p.  M.  The  program  is  three  reels 
of  film  (or  three  pictures,  not  necessarily  each  a  full  reel)  and  two 
illustrated  songs.  The  film  is  all  first  run,  changing  the  three  reels 
three  times  each  week,  without  holdovers,  but  a  good  film  picture 
frequently  will  be  repeated  a  few  weeks  later,  with  the  advertising 
sign,  "Repeated  by  request."  The  songs  are  changed  weekly.  Two 


189 


26  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

singers  are  employed  for  the  two  songs  of  each  program,  one  male 
voice  and  one  female  voice. 

Three  projection  operators,  working  at  the  same  time  in  the 
operating  room,  put  on  the  program.  Two  of  these  operators  have 
motion-picture  projecting  machines,  while  the  third  operator  pro- 
jects nothing  but  stereopticon  slides,  both  announcement  slides  and 
song  slides,  attending  also  to  the  illumination  of  the  auditorium  dur- 
ing the  intermission. 

The  order  of  the  program  is  as  follows:  The  show  starts  with 
a  few  announcement  slides;  then  the  first  motion-picture  operator 
puts  on  the  first  film  picture.  As  the  end  of  the  film  picture  approaches 
the  stereopticon  operator  stands  ready  and  projects  the  song  title 
upon  the  tailpiece  of  the  film,  the  pianist  opens  the  introduction  to 
the  song  as  the  title  appears  and  the  song  follows  without  a  second 
of  lost  time.  At  the  close  of  the  song,  the  second  motion-picture 
operator  stands  ready  and  begins  projection  at  a  signal  from  the 
stereopticon  operator,  the  last  slide  of  the  song  dissolving  into  the 
title  of  the  next  film  picture.  In  the  same  manner  the  screen  con- 
tinues without  interruption  of  projection  into  the  second  song  and 
then  into  the  third  film  picture  by  the  first  projection  operator.  At 
the  close  of  the  third  film  picture  the  lights  are  turned  on,  the  crowd 
is  allowed  a  few  minutes  for  passing  out  and  in,  the  candy  man 
makes  a  trip,  and  the  program  is  repeated.  The  house  is  "dark7 
about  fifty  minutes  for  the  program  of  three  pictures  and  two  songs, 
and  is  "light"  for  about  five  minutes  for  the  intermission. 

For  the  ordinary  day,  fifteen  performances  are  given  in  the 
fourteen  hours.  On  Saturday,  the  busy  day,  an  extra  performance 
is  given,  making  sixteen  in  all. 

The  house,  equipped  fully  for  the  operation  of  the  theater, 
represents  an  invested  capital  of  $160,000.  The  building  was  com- 
pletely remodeled  for  the  theater,  under  lease  to  the  theater  mana- 
gers. It  is  not  owned  by  the  theater  managers,  and  a  rental  of  $48,000 
per  year  is  paid.  This  includes  heating.  Figured  upon  a  weekly 
basis  for  the  weekly  expense  sheet,  this  rental  is  $923  per  week. 

The  theater  seats  seven  hundred  people.  The  admission  price 
is  ten  cents,  anywhere  in  the  house,  giving  a  value  for  a  "full  house" 
of  $70. 

The  attendance  averages  about  six-tenths  of  the  total  capacity 


190 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  27 

— six-tenths  of  seven  hundred  seats,  filled  fifteen  times  on  an  average 
for  six  days,  6,300  tickets  per  day  for  six  days  and  400  more  on 
Saturday  for  the  extra  performance,  about  44,500  tickets  per  week, 
or  $4,450  weekly  receipts  at  the  ticket  window.  On  many  Saturdays 
— the  busy  day  with  sixteen  performances — the  ticket  sale  reaches 
nearly  -10,000,  or  $1,000. 

The  theater  is  operated  by  two  sets  of  employes,  called  the 
day  force  and  the  night  force,  each  working  seven  hours  continuously. 
The  day  force  works  from  9  A.M.  until  4  P.M.,  the  night  force 
then  coming  on  and  working  until  11  P.M.  Thirty-five  employes 
are  on  the  pay  roll  of  the  theater  itself,  aside  from  the  manager 
and  his  clerical  help. 

The  orchestra  comprises  pianist  and  drummer,  and  a  "sound 
effect"  man  for  adding  something  of  realism  to  the  pictures  by  supply- 
ing some  of  the  sounds  attendant  in  nature  upon  the  scene  represented. 

WEEKLY  EXPENSE.  The  item  of  rent  is  a  matter  fixed  by  contract  with 
the  owner  of  the  building.  It  appears  high  when  compared  with  rental  values 
of  theaters  of  similar  seating  capacity  but  located  in  the  residence  districts 
of  the  city  where  the  land  values  are  not  so  high. 

In  the  item  of  electric  current,  it  must  be  noted  that  this  theater  runs 
fourteen  hours  per  day,  against  an  average  of  five  hours  per  day  for  a  residence 
district  theater.  The  electric  lighting  and  electric  signs  in  front  of  the  theater 
are  profuse,  and  most  of  the  lamps  burn  the  full  fourteen  hours  per  day  that 
the  theater  is  open. 

The  film  rental  item  of  $126  per  week  for  three  reels  changed  three  times 
a  week  takes  into  account  the  large  number  of  times  that  each  reel  is  run 
through  the  projecting  machine.  The  wear  upon  the  film  naturally  is  greater 
for  the  fifteen  shows  per  day  which  this  theater  gives  than  it  would  be  in  a 
residence  district  show  of  four  performances  daily.  It  is  true  further  that 
"first  run"  film  is  the  most  expensive  run  of  film  for  the  theater  manager 
to  buy,  and  that  all  of  this  theater's  film  is  first  run  film. 

The  item  of  "sundry  expenses"  includes  tickets,  carbons,  lamp  renewals, 
machine  repairs  and  depreciation,  piano  tuning,  painting  a  large  sign  three 
times  per  week  with  each  change  of  program,  and  many  minor  expenses. 

In  each  of  the  items  where  the  pay  roll  is  involved,  it  is  remembered 
that  the  item  is  doubled  to  provide  for  the  two  forces  of  employes  covered 
by  the  list,  the  day  force  and  the  night  force. 

Six  projection  operators  are  employed,  three  for  the  day  force  and  three 
for  the  night  force;  of  each  set  of  three,  are  two  motion  operators  and  one  slide 
operator. 

A  guard  in  full  police  uniform  is  in  attendance  at  the  entrance  door.  A  fire 
guard  is  required  by  the  rules  of  the  fire  department  of  the  city. 

The  orchestra  of  six  employes  comprises  the  two  pianists,  the  two  drum- 
mers, and  the  two  sound  artists. 


191 


28  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Of  the  four  singers,  each  is  required  to  sing  seven  or  eight  times — a 
day's  work.  Two  are  on  the  day  force  and  two  on  the  night  force;  each  sings 
once  in  each  show. 

WEEKLY  EXPENSE  SHEET 

Rent  and  heat,  per  week $923 .00 

Electricity,  per  week 200 .00 

Film  rental 126.00 

Song  slides 2 .00      • 

Sundry  expenses,  per  week 130.00 

License 8.00 

6  Projection  operators 112 .00 

2  Cashiers 30 .00 

2  Uniformed  police  at  door 36.00 

2  Fire  guards 28 .00 

2  Ticket  takers 30 .00 

6  Orchestra  and  sound  effects 210.00 

4  Singers 100 .00 

3  Porters 36 .00 

8  Ushers 80.00 

Manager,  per  week 40 .00 

Assistant  manager,  per  week 25.00 

Stenographer  and  bookkeeper 15.00 

Messenger  boy 6 . 00 

Telephone 2 .00 

Office  supplies  and  sundry 6 . 00 


Average  weekly  expenses $2,145.00 

Average  weekly  receipts,   $4,450. 

Country  Theater  (1).  The  theater  from  which  this  expense 
sheet  was  taken  was  unsuccessful.  The  expense  seems  about  a 
minimum  for  a  theater  in  which  the  manager  must  employ  help  for 
all  of  his  service,  yet  the  gross  receipts  of  the  theater  did  not  justify 
even  this  expense. 

WEEKLY   EXPENSE   SHEET 

Rent $  3.50 

Film  service,  7  reels  weekly 18 .00 

Express  charges 1 .00 

Electricity 3 .00 

Operator 10 .00 

Ticket  seller 1.50 

Pianist 3.00 

Coal  (winter  expense) 2 .00 

Tickets,  carbons  and  sundry 1 .00 


Total  weekly  expense $43.00 


192 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  29 

Average  weekly  receipts,  $40. 

This  town  had  a  census  population  of  1,100  people,  giving  a  probable 
weekly  ticket  window  income  of  $27.50  to  $55. 

Country  Theater  (2).  In  the  same  town,  under  a  different 
manager.  The  experience  of  the  first  theater  had  shown  about  what 
gross  income  could  be  expected.  The  expense  account  was  planned 
to  fall  below  the  anticipated  income  by  enough  to  leave  a  profit  for 
the  manager. 

WEEKLY  EXPENSE  SHEET 

Rent ,  $  3.50 

Film,  eight  reels,  express  paid 12 .00 

Electricity 3 .00 

Operator 

Ticket  seller 1.00 

Pianist 2.50 

Coal  (winter  expense) 2 .00 

Tickets,  carbons  and  sundry 1 .00 

Newspaper  advertisements .50 


Total  weekly  expense $25.50 

Average  weekly  receipts,  $45. 

The  commercial  run  of  film  satisfied  his  audience  for  quality, 
and  age  of  subject  was  immaterial,  as  all  were  new  to  his  patrons. 
The  eight  reels  were  run  as  follows:  Two  on  Monday  night,  one 
new  and  one  holdover  on  Tuesday  night;  one  new  and  one  holdover 
Wednesday  night;  one  new  and  one  holdover  Thursday  night;  one 
new  and  one  holdover  Friday  night;  two  new  reels  and  one  holdover 
Saturday  afternoon  and  Saturday  evening.  This  gave  a  three-reel 
show  on  Saturday  and  prices  of  ten  cents  for  adults  and  five  cents 
for  children  were  charged. 

The  manager  ran  the  projecting  machine  himself,  thus  avoiding 
an  expenditure  for  an  operator's  salary. 

The  ticket  seller  sold  tickets  and  noted  that  the  patrons  dropped 
them  into  a  ticket  box  at  the  door,  which  box  could  be  seen  by  the 
manager  from  time  to  time  as  he  chanced  to  look. 

The  pianist  seems  the  only  luxury  on  the  bill  of  expense.  The 
small  advertisement  in  the  local  newspaper  seems  good  business 
judgment. 

Country  Theater  (3).     In  the  same  town,  during  the  summer. 


193 


30  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

During  this  season,  the  patronage  of  the  country  folk  is  largely  with- 
drawn except  on  Saturdays.  The  operation  of  the  picture  theater  was 
changed  to  suit  the  changed  conditions  for  the  summer  months. 

The  theater  building  or  room  was  held  over  the  summer  at  the 
uniform  rental  rate  for  the  following  winter's  business.  The  film 
service  was  reduced  to  three  reels  for  the  Saturday  show,  and  shows 
were  given  only  on  Saturday  afternoon  and  evening.  Admission 
was  five  and  ten  cents,  as  on  Saturdays  during  the  winter. 

WEEKLY   EXPENSE    SHEET 

Rent $  3.50 

Film,  three  reels  express  paid 5.00 

Electricity 1 .00 

Ticket  seller .25 

Pianist .75 

Sundry  expense . ,  .50 

Newspaper  advertisements 1 .00 


Total  weekly  expense $12 .00 

Receipts  averaged  between  $15  and  $20  weekly.  In  addition  to 
the  profit  of  the  one  day  at  the  theater,  the  manager  had  other  employment 
during  the  week. 

Country  Theater  (4).  This  theater  is  located  in  a  country  town 
whose  census  population  is  but  six  hundred  people.  The  gross 
income  which  might  be  expected  in  such  a  town,  according  to  the 
rule,  would  be  $15  to  $30  per  week,  and  this  is  based  upon  a  show 
running  six  nights  and  one  afternoon  per  week. 

WEEKLY  EXPENSE  SHEET 

Rent,  heat  and  ticket  seller,  two  days $     3 . 00 

Film,  five  reels,  two  days 4 . 50 

Express  charges .35 

Expense  for  acetylene-lamp  supplies .30 

Sundry  expenses 1 . 00 


Total  weekly  expense $     9.15 

Average  weekly  receipts,   $14. 

For  an  exhibition  room,  a  lodge  hall  seating  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  people  was  obtained  at  a  price  of  two  nights  for  $3,  including 
the  heating,  and  a  ticket  seller  was  furnished  as  a  favor. 

The  item  of  film,  five  reels  for  $4.50,  was  attained  by  "splitting  the 
week"  with  another  theater  in  a  neighboring  town,  which  used  the  five  reels 
during  the  remainder  of  the  week. 


194 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  31 

The  total  expense  of  starting  this  theater  was  about  $60  for  a  complete 
projecting  outfit  with  acetylene  lamp.  Aside  from  this  there  was  no  expense 
but  the  curtain  for  the  picture  screen.  The  manager  and  operator  was  regularly 
employed  during  the  day,  his  show  profits  being  "velvet." 

The  program  given  was  three  reels  the  first  night  and  two  new  reels  and 
a  selected  holdover  reel  for  the  second  night.  The  price  was  five  cents. 

Airdome.  This  name  has  been  adopted  to  define  a  motion- 
picture  theater  in  the  open  air.  A  fenced  enclosure  is  chosen,  or 
a  canvas  8  to  10  feet  high  is  erected  upon  stakes  to  form  an  enclosed 
yard.  At  one  end  a  projection  house  or  even  a  projection  platform 
is  built;  at  the  other  end,  a  picture  screen  of  usual  theater  size  is 
erected.  Chairs  are  arranged  before  the  screen  as  in  any  motion- 
picture  theater,  and  the  entire  conduct  of  the  airdome  is  quite  the 
same.  A  platform  may  be  built  before  the  screen  for  vaudeville. 

The  airdome  is  for  fair  weather  only.  The  novel  idea  seems  to 
please  the  general  public,  whether  the  airdome  is  operated  in  a  coun- 
try town  or  upon  a  vacant  lot  in  a  large  city. 

The  illustration,  Fig.  5,  shows  an  airdome    upon   a  city  lot 


Fig.  5.  The  Airdome 

beside  a  business  house.  The  lot  is  divided  by  the  picture  screen 
and  the  admission  gate,  the  front  portion  of  the  enclosure  being 
used  as  a  refreshment  park  in  which  the  music  from  the  airdome 
piano  or  orchestra  (if  any)  is  heard,  while  the  rear  portion  of  the 
lot  is  the  theater  itself. 

OPERATION 

Studying  Audiences.  The  manager  will  learn  much  about  his 
show  by  watching  his  patrons  as  they  come  out.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  inquire  what  they  think  of  the  show  Comments  will  pass  among 
them  which  may  be  overheard  by  the  manager  and  by  the  cashier 


105 


32  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

as  they  pass  the  ticket  window,  commenting  favorably  and  un- 
favorably upon  the  film  pictures  which  they  have  seen  a  few  minutes 
before.  In  this  manner  the  manager  may  learn  when  any  particular 
picture  has  favorable  comment,  and  may  endeavor  to  have  his  film 
exchange  supply  more  of  the  same  class;  likewise,  when  any  picture 
has  a  flood  of  unfavorable  comment  among  the  theatergoers  them- 
selves, the  manager  may  try  to  influence  his  film  exchange  to  avoid 
sending  him  that  class  of  subject. 

The  words,  "try  to  influence  his  film  exchange,"  are  chosen 
carefully  to  express  the  true  position  of  the  exhibitor,  or  theater 
manager,  in  the  matter  of  obtaining  film  pictures  acceptable  to  his 
patrons.  The  film  exchanges  as  a  rule  take  all  the  film  pictures  pro- 
duced by  the  particular  manufacturers  from  whom  they  buy.  All 
of  these  film  reels  look  alike  to  the  film  exchange  man,  and  he  would 
like  to  send  them  indiscriminately  to  his  customers,  to  the  exhibitors, 
or  to  theater  managers.  The  service  the  theater  manager  will  get, 
therefore,  will  be  "hit  or  miss"  of  the  film  exchange  stock  of  reels 
unless  some  influence  is  used  by  the  manager  to  govern  the  classes  of 
pictures  furnished  him.  Film  exchanges  are  notoriously  lax  in  the 
matter  of  selecting  pictures  for  particular  theaters.  If  the  film  service 
is  to  be  what  the  manager  desires,  the  deliveries  of  the  film  exchange 
must  be  watched  constantly  and  carefully. 

The  manager  who  has  learned  the  tastes  of  his  audience  should 
consider  their  tastes  as  a  requirement  upon  him  to  obtain  the  pre- 
ferred classes  of  pictures  from  his  film  exchange.  The  responsive- 
ness of  the  audience  in  the  theater  is  one  barometer  of  public  ap- 
proval; the  attitude  and  conduct  of  patrons  leaving  the  theater  is 
another.  The  ticket  sales  will  be  another,  but  this  last  is  not  so  quick 
in  its  indications  of  response. 

When  a  picture  pleases  the  audience,  it  may  be  the  specific 
picture,  or  it  may  be  the  general  class  to  which  the  picture  belongs; 
in  one  neighborhood,  dramatic  and  scenic  may  please  more  than 
comic  or  historical;  in  another  nothing  but  comics  can  draw  the 
crowds  and  send  them  away  smiling. 

The  Program.  Whether  vaudeville  is  advisable  and  profitable, 
and  whether  the  song  is  a  drawing  card  or  whether  the  audience 
would  rather  have  solid  pictures,  all  may  be  learned  from  watching 
the  house  during  the  performance  and  watching  the  faces  and  com- 


196 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER 


33 


merits  of  the  patrons  as  they  pass  out  after  seeing  the  performance. 

Choice  of  a  program  is  a  great  factor  where  the  theater  is  in  a 
competitive  position.  There  is  but  little  difference  in  expense  between 
a  three-reel  program  and  two  reels  and  a  song. 

Advertising.  A  sign  at  the  door  of  the  theater  may  announce 
the  titles  of  the  films  being  shown,  or  may  announce  merely  that 
motion  pictures  are  being  shown.  It  is  customary  to  announce  the 
titles  of  the  films  if  the  films  can  be  obtained  from  the  film  exchange 


iMO-rioai 

'ICTUI 


BEST 


EDISON 

PICTURES 


lOTIOItl 


Fig.  6.    A  Title  Poster 

long  enough  in  advance  to  prepare  the  sign,  or  if  posters  are  delivered 
with  the  films.  At  times  it  may  help  business  to  advertise  the  name 
of  the  maker  rather  than  the  name  of  the  film,  or  to  post  the  announce- 
ment as  to  the  nature  of  the  picture,  "A  roaring  farce  tonight,"  or 
"Beautiful  colored  picture  tonight,"  rather  than  a  title  which  might 
not  suggest  the  nature  of  the  film.  In  all  of  these  details  of  his  an- 
nouncement boards  at  the  front  of  the  theater,  the  manager  must 
use  his  judgment  as  applied  to  his  patrons.  Variation  in  signs  is 


197 


34  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

advisable;  and  always  bear  in  mind  that  the  program,  the  film  pic- 
tures, the  song  and  the  music,  or  vaudeville,  if  any,  if  mentioned 
in  the  theater-front  signs,  must  justify  the  sign  and  fulfil  all  its 
promises. 

Poster  Service.  Title  posters  may  be  obtained  from  the  film 
exchanges  at  a  very  small  cost — five  cents  each  is  the  usual  charge — 
or  they  may  be  obtained  from  companies  making  a  specialty  of 
supplying  title  posters  for  films.  These  come  in  one-sheet  size — 
the  standard  title  poster  size  adopted  by  all  film  makers — and  have 
something  the  appearance  of  the  poster  of  Fig.  6.  The  charge  for 
a  poster  service  consisting  of  a  weekly  shipment  of  posters  for  the 
current  films,  which  the  theater  manager  then  holds  until  he  gets 
the  films  and  ultimately  throws  away  the  posters  which  he  has  received 
for  which  he  never  got  the  films,  is  from  $5  to  $10  per  month. 

In  addition  to  simple  "title  posters"  containing  a  stock  form 
of  border  design  (sometimes  in  color)  and  the  title  of  the  film  printed 
upon  it,  the  film  manufacturers  publish  with  each  film  an  attractive 
colored  poster,  one-sheet  size.  A  quantity  of  these  are  delivered 
to  the  film  exchange  with  every  film  sold,  and  in  turn  the  film  exchange 
will  furnish  them  to  the  exhibitor  to  whom  the  film  is  rented.  As 
to  the  terms  upon  which  the  exhibitor  may  secure  these  posters, 
that  is  a  matter  individual  to  the  film  exchange.  Usually  they  are 
furnished  free  to  the  customers  who  get  the  films  first,  paying  the 
higher  prices  for  the  early  runs  of  the  film.  Later  users  of  the  film 
do  not  get  any  posters  because  they  are  all  gone.  The  "title  poster" 
service  is  a  resource  when  the  manufacturer's  more  desirable  picture 
posters  cannot  be  obtained. 

Electric  Signs.  An  electric  sign,  with  a  word  in  letters  formed 
by  electric  lamps,  such  as  "Theater,"  "5c  Theater,"  "Motion," 
or  "Pictures,"  or  even  "5c,"  can  be  seen  a  long  way  up  and  down 
the  street. 

A  simple  electric  sign  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  7.  This  has  the 
words,  "Theater  5c,"  in  letters  studded  with  electric  lamps.  With 
4-candle-power  lamps  taking  about  12  watts  each,  and  with  electric 
current  at  10  cents  per  kilowatt,  the  cost  of  current  for  operating 
this  sign  four  hours  in  an  evening  would  be  about  fifty  cents.  To 
this  may  be  added  cost  of  lamp  renewals,  interest,  and  depreciation 
on  the  sign,  if  so  desired.  The  cost  of  such  a  sign  is  about  $50. 


108 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  35 

Another  type  of  electric  sign  is  shown  in  Fig.  8,  in  which  the 
letters  are  not  studded  with  lamps,  but  in  which  the  lamps  of  the 
sign  form  the  attractive  feature.    The  figure  5c  in  the  middle  of  the 
sign  is  set  with   lamps,  and  the 
zigzag  line  from  the  upper  right- 
hand   corner  to    the  lower  left- 
hand    corner   is  set  with  a  line 

of  lamps.    A  sign  flasher  is  con-  ^  7   A  Simple  Electrjc  g.gQ 

nected  with  this  sign,  lighting  the 

lamps  in  this  order:  The  zigzag  line  represents  a  lightning  flash. 
The  first  lamp  at  the  top  is  lighted,  then  the  next,  and  so  on  until 
about  eight  are  lighted,  then  as  each  lamp  ahead  is  lighted  the  lamp 
earliest  lighted  of  the  eight  is  put  out,  so  that  the  string  of  eight  lamps 
seems  to  move  along  the  zigzag  line.  This  action  is  very  rapid,  and 
the  lightning  flash  crosses  the  sign  very  quickly.  Then  the  5c  is  lighted 
for  a  few  seconds,  then  extinguished  for  a  few  seconds,  and  the  light- 
ning flash  is  repeated,  beginning  the  next  cycle.  The  flashing  of  the 
lamps  is  done  by  a  drum  of  contacts  run  by  a  small  motor.  The 
number  of  lamps  is  about  the  same  as  in  the  sign  of  Fig.  7,  and  the 
cost  of  current  is  about  the  same, 
the  lamps  burning  but  a  part  of 
the  time,  and  the  motor  running 
all  the  time.  The  first  cost  of  the 
sign  is  much  greater. 

In  a  simple  sign  bordered  by 

*  Fig.  8.    Electric  Sign  with  Flasher 

lamps,   the  lamps  may  be  made 

to  "run  around"  in  the  same  way  that  the  flash  crosses  the  sign  of 
Fig.  8,  adding  to  the  attractiveness  of  an  otherwise  very  plain  sign. 
Announcement  Slides.  The  program  of  the  theater  always  may 
be  announced  by  advertising  announcement  slides.  These  take  the 
form  of  "Pictures  Changed  Daily,"  "Song  Changed  Twice  a  Week," 
"New  Song  Tomorrow,"  "Colored  Picture  Tomorrow  Night," 
"Special  Educational  Show  for  School  Children,  one  hour,  beginning 
at  four  o'clock  Friday,"  all  of  which  are  direct  advertising  slides, 
but  will  not  be  so  considered  by  the  patrons  because  they  pertain 
to  the  show.  Although  they  take  but  a  minute  or  two,  they  may  well 
be  omitted  on  Saturday  night's  rush,  particularly  if  so  doing  will 
put  on  one  more  show  in  the  evening. 


199 


36  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

"Next  show"  slides  are  of  doubtful  utility,  announcing  the  sub- 
jects for  tomorrow.  It  is  doubtful  whether  at  any  time  it  is  advisable 
to  announce  the  subjects  for  tomorrow,  if  competitive  theaters  are 
near  by,  unless  the  subject  is  a  special  one  and,  therefore,  specially 
advertised.  When  used,  the  "next  show"  slides  must  be  prepared 
by  the  theater  manager  or  projection  operator,  from  day  to  day,  as 
the  titles  are  learned  ahead. 

Printed  Programs.  With  "daylight  pictures" — the  expression 
is  used  to  mean  that  the  lights  of  the  room  are  not  turned  off  while 
the  pictures  are  being  shown — a  printed  program  may  be  given 
to  the  patron  at  the  door.  The  printed  program  always  carries 
advertising  matter,  and  should  be  so  designed  as  to  advertise  the 
theater  properly,  as  well  as  to  serve  its  paid  advertisers. 

Newspapers.  Advertisements  inserted  in  the  newspapers  are 
seldom  profitable  in  the  large  cities;  in  the  smaller  cities,  it  may  be 
found  so;  but  in  the  country  town,  where  the  newspaper  is  a  weekly 
and  everybody  reads  all  of  it,  50c  or  $1  per  week  is  well  spent.  The 
simple  announcement,  with  some  display  line  in  it,  may  or  may  not 
give  the  titles. 

Handbills.  In  the  large  city,  the  theater  located  in  the  residence 
district  will  find  that  the  handbill  will  take  the  place  of  the  newspaper 
in  the  small  town,  and  cost  but  little  more.  A  thousand  bills,  6  by  9 
inches  in  size,  may  be  had  from  the  local  printer  for  a  price  not  to 
exceed  $2,  and  a  boy,  at  $1  for  the  afternoon,  will  deliver  them.  This 
expense  should  put  a  handbill  into  every  residence  within  five  blocks 
of  the  theater.  Such  a  handbill  should  contain  some  special  announce- 
ment as  an  excuse  for  its  existence;  the  title  and  short  mention  of 
the  nature  of  some  special  film  to  be  featured  will  be  sufficient  excuse; 
or  a  prize  voting  contest,  or  special  program  of  specific  nature. 

Noise  Wagon.  Painted  banners  are  mounted  on  a  wagon — 
sometimes  called  a  "sandwich  wagon" — and  driven  through  the 
streets,  a  bell  being  hung  inside  which  rings  continually,  or  a  drummer 
or  bugler  being  carried.  Its  utility  is  limited.  Days  when  the  country 
people  are  in  town  form  one  excuse  for  this  advertising  device. 

Feature  Films.  The  manager  should  see  the  film  himself  before 
deciding  to  feature  it.  It  may  be  seen  at  some  other  theater  or  at 
the  film  exchange;  the  film  exchange  will  be  able  to  tell  the  manager 
where  the  film  is  being  shown,  that  he  may  go  there  to  see  it.  The 


200 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  37 

fact  that  a  specific  film  is  being  advertised  largely  by  its  manufac- 
turer is  not  sufficient  basis  for  a  manager  to  decide  to  feature  it  for 
his  patrons,  for  such  advertising  may  not  be  justified  by  the  film,  or 
even  if  so  warranted,  the  film  may  have  real  merit  and  still  not  be 
suited  to  the  tastes  of  the  theater  as  the  manager  understands  them. 

Having  selected  a  feature  film,  advertise  it  only  a  day  ahead, 
both  by  theater-front  signs  and  handbills.  In  addition,  a  printed 
program  for  the  next  night  with  the  feature  film  advertised  may 
be  handed  to  patrons  leaving  the  theater  on  the  night  before  the 
feature  is  put  on.  Be  careful  that  the  word  "Tomorrow"  is  promi- 
nent in  the  theater-front  announcement  which  is  posted  a  day  ahead, 
or  some  patron,  reading  the  sign  carelessly,  may  go  inside  and  be 
disappointed  because  he  did  not  see  the  feature  film  mentioned 
for  the  next  night. 

Special  Programs.  An  entire  program  made  up  of  films  of  some 
specific  nature  may  be  called  a  special  program,  and  advertised 
accordingly.  "Biograph  Night"  on  which  nothing  but  biograph 
reels  are  used,  might  strike  the  popular  fancy  of  some  neighborhood, 
while  "Travel  Night"  on  which  the  majority  of  films  are  scenic, 
might  "make  a  hit"  with  another  neighborhood. 

School  Children.  A  special  program  of  films  particularly  pleas- 
ing to  children,  and  to  some  extent  educational  or  travel,  may  be 
given  in  the  afternoon  after  the  close  of  school,  and  the  result  of  the 
experiment  noted.  Special  arrangements  with  the  film  exchange  will 
be  necessary,  and  a  talk  will  be  needed  with  the  educational  or  travel 
films,  otherwise  they  are  usually  too  unfamiliar  to  the  child  mind 
and,  therefore,  dry  and  uninteresting. 

Amateur  Night.  As  a  part  of  one  show  of  the  evening,  amateurs 
are  invited  to  entertain  the  audience,  with  a  time  limit  of  five  minutes 
each;  after  all  have  done  their  acts,  each  walks  upon  the  stage; 
each  patron  in  the  audience  has  been  requested  to  decide  upon  the 
prize-winning  act,  and  when  the  selected  amateur  enters  the  patrons 
favoring  him  applaud.  The  amateur  getting  the  greatest  applause 
is  awarded  the  advertised  prize  of  the  evening.  "Amateur  Night" 
is  usually  made  a  weekly  event  in  theaters  where  it  is  introduced. 

Contests.  This  is  merely  a  specialized  "amateur  sight"  in  which 
all  acts  are  limited  to  the  same  nature,  thereby  placing  the  several 
acts  in  direct  contest  with  each  other. 


201 


38  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Double  Price,  A  five-cent  theater  may  run  on  Saturday  night 
at  a  ten-cent  admission  fee.  This  not  only  increases  the  gross  receipts 
for  Saturday  evening  but  acts  as  an  advertising  feature  for  the  theater. 
A  better  show  should  be  given,  to  justify  the  double  price,  in  order 
that  the  patrons  may  not  think  the  double  price  is  being  charged 
merely  because  the  manager  can  get  it  on  Saturday.  The  program, 
however,  should  not  require  double  time,  or  there  will  be  no  gain 
by  the  double  price.  It  may  be  slightly  longer  in  time,  and  may 
have  advertisable  differences  in  quality  if  desired. 

The  live  manager  will  find  some  excuse  to  make  a  special  noise 
once  in  a  while  to  get  a  few  new  patrons  to  come  to  his  theater  be- 
cause of  the  special  feature  advertised. 

Renting  Films.  Subscribe  for  a  magazine  devoted  to  motion- 
picture  interests,  and  read  the  advertisements  of  the  film  exchanges. 
Select  two  or  three  liberal  advertisers  near  the  theater  and  get  their 
prices.  Films  contracted  for  as  "not  more  than  thirty  days  old" 
will  be  about  the  cheapest,  quality  considered.  In  the  city,  two 
reels,  daily  change,  should  cost  $20  to  $25  weekly.  This  is  much 
better  than  "one  reel  ten  days  and  one  reel  commercial,"  for  "com- 
mercial" means  "junk"  to  the  exchange  man.  If  you  have  film  with 
a  time  limit,  keep  the  file  of  the  motion-picture  magazine  with  its 
list  of  releases  or  clip  and  file  the  lists  of  releases  and  look  up  every 
film  received  to  make  sure  that  the  exchange  man  is  not  giving  you 
film  older  than  your  contract  age.  In  a  small  town,  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  film  will  be  limited  by  the  gross  income,  and  the  manager 
must  shop  around  the  film  exchanges  to  get  the  best  he  can  for  his 
money. 

Get  the  benefit  of  competition  among  film  exchanges  by  learn- 
ing what  others  would  charge  for  the  service  you  are  buying,  but 
never  change  film  exchanges  without  giving  your  own  exchange  a 
chance  to  meet  the  other  fellow's  prices  and  terms. 

Song  Slides.  The  slides  are  rented  from  the  film  exchange, 
although  there  are  some  exchanges  handling  song  slides  only.  The 
price  is  25  cents  to  $1  for  the  set  of  slides  for  a  week  or  less, 
and  extra  for  the  sheet  music  if  not  returned  with  the  slides. 

Hiring  Employes.  In  the  cities,  singer  and  pianist  may  be 
obtained  in  the  neighborhood,  by  advertising  in  the  daily  papers 
or  on  the  special  program  handbills.  Either  one  should  be  em- 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  39 

ployed  at  $1  to  $1.50  per  night.  A  drummer  who  is  employed  else- 
where during  the  day  should  have  the  same  price.  Cashier  at  $4 
to  $7  weekly  is  ample  in  the  city.  In  the  small  towns,  these  prices  may 
be  cut  one-half.  The  projection  operator,  with  a  license  and  a  union 
in  the  city,  must  have  $15  for  evenings  only.  In  the  smaller  towns, 
unless  employed  for  the  full  day,  he  may  be  scheduled  for  one-half 
that  price;  this  assumes  that  he  is  employed  during  the  day  elsewhere. 

Automatic  Music.  An  automatic  piano  may  be  rented  or  bought 
— $800  usually  will  buy  one — and  the  perforated  strip  music  may 
be  obtained  from  a  music  exchange  or  "library"  with  daily  or  weekly 
charge  at  a  price  of  $1  to  $2.50  per  month.  The  automatic  piano 
may  furnish  the  only  music  for  an  "all  picture"  show,  or  may  be  used 
early  and  late  in  the  evenings  to  make  the  pianist's  hours  shorter 
and  reduce  the  expense,  besides  being  ready  always  to  furnish  music 
for  a  full  evening  when  the  pianist  fails  to  appear. 

Vaudeville.  The  acts  must  be  booked  from  a  dramatic  booking 
agency;  no  other  method  is  reliable  nor  satisfactory.  A  single  act 
by  a  single  actor  may  be  put  on  at  $25  per  week  and  up.  Any  act 
will  cost  $25  per  actor,  and  up  from  that  price.  If  you  are  running 
vaudeville,  by  all  means  keep  posted  on  what  other  theaters  are 
doing,  and  get  acquainted  with  their  booking  agencies,  for  com- 
petition's sake,  to  see  that  you  are  getting  the  best  your  money  will 
buy. 

Splitting  the  Week.  Vaudeville  is  "weekly  change."  In  the  city, 
where  the  patronage  of  a  residence  district  theater  is  limited  to  a 
small  area,  and  in  smaller  cities,  where  a  large  proportion  of  patrons 
are  likely  to  visit  the  theater  oftener  than  one  night  in  the  week, 
the  plan  of  "splitting  the  week"  between  two  theaters  is  adopted  to 
give  each  a  change  of  vaudeville  in  the  middle  of  the  week.  When 
two  theaters  are  co-operating  thus,  films  as  well  as  vaudeville  acts 
may  be  "split,"  particularly  if  the  theaters  are  in  two  nearby  country 
towns.  Each  theater  hires  a  vaudeville  act  and  a  few  reels  of  film 
for  the  week,  and  the  entire  program  changes  theaters  in  the  middle 
of  the  week.  Booking  agencies  will  arrange  for  "split  weeks"  as 
desired. 

Keeping  Accounts.  For  theaters  whose  expenses  and  incomes 
run  into  hundreds  of  dollars  weekly,  a  full  double-entry  set  of  books 
should  be  kept.  For  the  smaller  theaters,  two  books  will  answer 


203 


40 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


the  purpose  very  well.  All  theater  accounts  should  be  strictly  cash. 
Since  the  ticket  window  account  is  strictly  cash,  there  can  be  no  good 
business  policy  in  not  having  the  expense  account  run  on  the  same 
basis;  if  the  cash  from  the  income  account  will  not  pay  cash  for  the 
expense  account,  quit  the  business  or  think  of  a  good  reason  why  not. 
For  a  small  theater,  a  little  leather-covered  pocket  memorandum 
book  may  be  used  to  write  down  all  amounts  paid  out  and  received, 
for  any  purpose  whatsoever.  Memoranda  of  contracts  and  agree- 
ments may  be  entered  in  this  book.  The  other  book  is  a  book  of 
ruled  pages,  one  for  each  week  of  the  theater's  operation;  perhaps 
a  book  of  fifty-two  pages  would  be  a  convenient  size,  covering  just 
a  year  of  operation.  The  ruling  of  the  pages  of  this  book  may  be 


NO 

DAY 

TITLE  "/FILttS 

TITLE  '/SONGS 

RECEIPTS 

EXPENSES 

SUN. 

RENT 

ELECTRICITY 

MON. 

FILM  RENT 

F.IANO  RENT 

TIES. 

SLIDES 

ADVERTISING 

WED. 

EXPRESS 

SALARY-OPERATOR 

THUR 

SINGER 

PIANST 

nrt 

••  TICKETSELLER 

••  DOOf?  KEEPER 

SAT. 

••  USHER 

EXTRAS 

REMARKS-. 

ADHISSION  RECEIPTS 

TOTAL  RECEIPTS 

OTHER  RECEIPTS 

TOTAL  EXPENSES 

TOTAL  RECEIPTS 

NET  PROFITS 

Fig.  9.     Blank  Form  for  Weekly  Account  of  a  Motion-Picture  Theater 

as  shown  in  Fig.  9,  or  any  modification  of  that  form  which  suits  the 
manager's  fancy.  A  local  printer  would  print  a  thousand  of  these 
on  a  good  quality  of  letter  paper  for  $4,  and  he  would  want  about 
the  same  money  for  fifty-two  of  them,  the  principal  labor  being 
in  the  preparation  of  the  printing  form.  By  having  them  printed, 
the  manager  may  have  his  own  preferred  ruling.  Books  answering 
the  purpose  may  be  bought  for  a  year's  business  for  a  dollar  or  less. 
Each  day  the  titles  of  the  films  may  be  entered  on  the  page. 
This  is  to  prevent  running  the  same  film  twice  without  a  proper  inter- 


204 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER    .  41 

val  between,  as  might  result  from  an  error  of  the  film  exchange, 
or  from  a  change  in  film  exchanges..  The  songs  are  recorded  like- 
wise. Films  and  songs  which  seemed  to  be  "hits"  with  the  audience 
may  be  marked  with  a  cross  and  asked  for  from  the  exchange  as 
specials,  "repeated  by  request"  for  advertising  effect. 

The  ticket-window  receipts  and  other  receipts  should  be  entered 
in  the  pocket  memorandum  book,  and  may  be  noted  on  the  back  of 
the  weekly  sheet  until  the  end  of  the  week,  when  the  totals  may  be 
entered  on  the  face  of  the  weekly  sheet,  and  the  net  profits  for  the 
week  may  be  determined. 

An  extra  sheet  at  the  back  of  the  book  may  have  entered  upon 
it  in  each  space  the  total  of  the  same  space  on  all  the  weekly  sheets. 
The  net  profits  for  the  year  thus  may  be  shown,  as  well  as  a  classifica- 
tion of  the  expenses  for  the  year. 

Dull  Season.  In  summer-time  in  the  country,  the  farmers  are 
too  busy  to  come  to  town  except  on  Saturday  afternoon.  In  summer- 
time in  the  city  the  people  go  to  the  parks  or  sit  on  their  front  porches. 
"In  the  good  old  summer-time,"  what  is  the  picture-theater  manager 
to  do?  If  he  worked  hard  during  the  winter,  and  expects  to  do  the 
same  next  winter,  it  may  be  to  his  advantage  ultimately  to  shut  up 
the  place  for  July  and  August,  pay  the  rent  on  the  vacant  house, 
and  take  a  thorough  rest.  A  little  painting  and  polishing  may  be 
done  during  this  interval,  and  he  can  open  the  house  with  a  big  whoop 
and  hurrah  about  September  1. 

Another  method  is  to  make  the  show  straight  pictures,  and  cut 
the  expense  sheet  to  the  absolute  minimum;  perhaps  the  ticket  win- 
dow will  be  able  to  get  enough  small  coin  to  pay  the  operating  charges. 
Nothing  but  a  shopper's  theater  in  the  shopping  center  of  a  large, 
city  can  run  a  summer  show  at  winter  profits.  This  excepts  the  pic- 
ture show  which  is  a  part  of  a  summer  amusement  park,  and  also 
the  airdome.  They  are  shows  which  flourish  in  the  sumjner-time 
only. 

A  study  of  the  weekly  account  sheets  as  summer  approaches 
will  show  the  dwindling  profits.  The  manager  then  must  decide 
what  his  policy  for  thf  summer  will  be. 

Tickets  and  Chopper.  Tickets  will  be  furnished  by  the  film 
exchanges  at  15  to  20  cents  per  thousand,  in  rolls.  They  are  sold 
by  the  cashier,  and  the  proper  amount  of  money  which  the  cashier  is 


205 


42  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

to  turn  over  to  the  manager  may  be  determined  by  noting  the  number 
of  the  end  ticket  of  the  roll  before  the  show  and  subtracting  it  from 
the  end  ticket  of  the  roll  after  the  show,  multiplying  the  difference 
by  the  price  of  admission.  This  number  of  tickets  should  be  found 
in  the  "ticket  chopper,"  or  ticket  box,  and  also  the  numbers  of  the 
tickets  in  the  box  should  correspond,  if  they  were  examined. 

The  ticket  chopper  takes  its  name  from  its  function.  It  muti- 
lates the  ticket  which  is  dropped  into  it  in  such  manner  that  it  may 
not  be  used  again.  Some  choppers  slit  them  into  ribbons,  while 
others  punch  holes  in  them,  passing  the  tickets  into  one  box  and  the 
small  bits  from  the  holes  into  another  receptacle.  In  either  case, 
the  ticket  if  reclaimed  from  the  box  by  fraud  would  not  be  suitable 
for  use  again.  Where  a  ticket  box  which  does  not  chop  is  used,  the 
manager  should  give  his  personal  attention  to  destroying  the  tickets 
each  day,  preferably  by  burning  them.  Every  ticket  that  is  not 
destroyed  by  the  manager  himself  means  a  possible  loss  of  five  cents, 
for  it  might  be  used  at  the  door  again,  even  though  its  destruction 
is  intrusted  to  another. 

Change  the  color  every  day,  having  several  rolls  of  different 
color,  and  using  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  another.  A  ticket 
of  the  wrong  color  dropped  into  the  ticket  box  will  reveal  an  irregular- 
ity which  may  lead  to  important  discoveries  in  the  accounting  system. 

A  quiet  and  accurate  "head  count"  of  people  entering  the  theater 
door  on  an  occasional  night,  compared  with  ticket  numbers  and 
cashier's  receipts,  will  help  to  keep  this  most  vital  detail  of  the  theater 
under  control. 

The  manager  sometimes  is  confronted  with  a  class  of  patrons 
who  stay  in  the  theater  longer  than  one  show,  and,  therefore,  longer 
than  one  admission  fee  justifies.  When  the  house  is  "holding  out" 
the  crowds,  each  patron  of  this  class  reduces  the  profits  of  the  theater. 
One  method  of  handling  this  problem  is  to  take  tickets  at  the  door 
until  the  first  show  begins;  after  that,  do  not  take  up  the  whole  ticket, 
but  tear  off  about  one-quarter,  permitting  the  patron  to  retain. the 
large  part  of  the  ticket.  This  gives  each  patron  entering  during  the 
show  a  torn  ticket.  Between  shows,  collect  tickets  from  all  in  the 
theater.  Those  having  no  torn  tickets  must  have  seen  the  entire 
performance,  and  should  pay  another  admission  fee  or  leave  the 
theater. 


206 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  43 

Side  Lines  for  Profit.  The  patron  has  a  sentiment  against  any 
form  of  advertising  in  the  theater.  For  the  theater  in  a  competitive 
position,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  avoid  all  semblance  of  advertising  inside 
the  theater — upon  the  walls  or  upon  the  picture  screen,  either  drop 
curtain  or  lantern  slides.  The  tone  of  the  theater  is  improved  by 
leaving  the  show  clean  and  free  from  advertising  of  any  kind,  par- 
ticularly if  the  competing  theaters  offer  objectionable  advertising 
matter.  At  the  same  time,  the  big  vaudeville  houses  of  the  cities  use 
their  advertising  drop  curtain  before  the  performance  and  put  ad- 
vertising matter  in  their  street  scenes.  Also,  the  legitimate  theaters 
sell  candy  in  the  auditorium  between  the  acts  and  before  the  per- 
formance begins.  The  manager  must  judge  his  people  on  these 
points  and  handle  his  advertising  accordingly. 

Following  are  a  few  plans  available  for  increasing  the  revenue 
of  a  theater  beyond  ticket-window  receipts: 

Wall  Posters.  This  plan  is  borrowed  from  the  street-car  prac- 
tice of  assigning  a  wall  space  for  advertising  matter.  The  street- 
car practice  is  not  objectionable,  because  the  space  is  well  chosen 
and  advertising  matter  is  confined  strictly  to  the  selected  space. 
As  to  its  application  in  any  specific  theater,  the  sentiment  of  the 
patrons  must  be  judged.  Many  things  will  pass  in  a  small  country 
town  which  would  not  be  endured  by  patrons  in  a  city. 

Advertising  Drop  Curtain.  The  picture  screen  is  an  unsightly 
object  in  the  theater  when  there  is  no  projected  picture  upon  it. 
The  appearance  of  the  room  is  improved  greatly  during  the  inter- 
mission by  lowering  an  ornamental  drop  curtain  over  the  picture 
screen.  This  drop  curtain  may  contain  advertising  matter.  It  should 
be  well  put  on — at  the  expense  of  the  advertising  client — and  a 
liberal  price  charged. 

Advertising  Slides.  Advertising  slides  bear  advertising  matter 
for  the  advertising  patron,  and  such  slides  are  thrown  upon  the  screen 
along  with  the  set  of  announcement  slides  with  which  the  program 
begins,  before  the  motion  pictures  start.  A  single  advertising  slide 
is  hardly  objectionable  anywhere,  but  too  many  will  ruin  the  show. 

In  connection  with  advertising  slides,  insist  that  the  slides  be 
pleasing  in  appearance  and  brief  in  words.  Of  course  the  cost  of 
making  the  slide  is  paid  by  the  advertiser.  Remember  that  the 
same  people  come  to  your  theater  every  week,  and  insist  upon  a 


207 


44  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

weekly  change  of  the  advertising  slide  also.  The  patron  who  comes 
the  second  time  comes  to  see  a  different  show.  Not  only  the  adver- 
tising slides  of  the  paid  advertiser  must  be  changed  often,  but  the 
announcement  slides  which  are  in  substance  advertising  slides  of 
the  theater  itself,  must  be  changed.  Old  slides  which  have  been 
on  the  shelf  a  few  weeks  may  be  "run"  again  as  new  from  time  to 
time,  but  change  the  slide  program  for  the  same  reason  that  you  change 
the  picture  program  and  the  song  program.  Your  people  want  some- 
thing  new  all  the  time. 

Don't  let  any  patron  get  the  thought  that  the  manager  is  asleep 
or  that  the  theater  is  not  keeping  up  with  every  other  theater  in  the 
land. 

Program  Advertising.  This  is  a  practice  set  by  the  large  theaters. 
No  theater  program  is  complete  without  advertising  matter  upon  it, 
and  this  can  be  obtained  from  local  merchants  at  prices  which  will 
assist  in  paying  the  expense  of  printing  the  theater's  program,  or 
even  yield  a  profit. 

In  soliciting  program  advertising,  remember  that  the  adver- 
tisement will  increase  the  size  and  cost  of  the  program,  so  that  the 
price  niust  be  still  greater  than  the  difference  in  cost  which  the  printer 
will  make.  The  difference  in  cost  may  be  learned  by  getting  prices 
trom  the  printer  for  the  programs  with  and  without  advertising. 

Handbills.  The  weekly  handbill  is  worth  its  cost  in  any  city 
show.  The  cost  may  be  reduced  by  carrying  the  advertisement  of 
a  local  merchant,  or  two  or  three  in  different  lines  of  business,  for 
a  price  in  excess  of  the  added  cost  of  the  bills  at  the  printer's.  In 
addition,  a  proportion  of  the  distributing  charge  is  added  to  the 
price  for  the  merchant,  always  keeping  the  price  to  him  lower  than 
what  it  would  cost  him  to  print  and  distribute  bills  of  his  own. 

Candy  Kid.  The  practice  of  selling  candy  in  theaters  before 
and  between  acts  is  well  established.  Remember  in  this  connection 
that  the  patrons  come  to  the  theater  to  be  amused.  The  candy  vendor 
can  help  much  in  their  entertainment  if  his  "act"  is  studied.  One 
successful  candy  vendor  waits  only  until  the  old  crowd  is  out  and 
then  as  soon  as  the  new  patrons  start  in  he  walks  before  the  picture 
screen  and  says  something  like  this:  "I  know,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
that  you  have  come  here  tonight  for  a  little  fun,  sport  and  amuse- 
ment, and  I  am  going  to  add  to  your  fun  just  as  much  as  I  possibly 


208 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATER  45 

can ;  1  have  tonight  a  package  of candy  which  I  am  selling  for 

five  cents;  as  I  pass  up  the  aisle  please  have  your  change  ready." 
He  passes  up  the  aisle  with  his  basket  as  soon  as  the  aisle  is  clear, 
selling  candy  and  making  remarks  to  entertain  the  crowd:  "Don't 
be  afraid  to  buy  it;  it's  worth  the  money;"  "The  young  man  takes 
two  packages  because  the  young  lady  knows  it's  good;"  "Every 
package  guaranteed  to  send  you  home  fat  and  happy;"  "After  you 
eat  it,  if  you  don't  like  it,  give  it  back  and  I'll  refund  the  nickel;" 
when  the  show  starts  before  he  has  finished  his  trip,  he  says,  "Keep 
your  eyes  on  the  pictures  and  hand  me  your  money."  Your  people 
have  come  to  your  theater  to  be  entertained;  your  candy  vendor  is 
making  the  intermission  seem  shorter  and  is  positively  adding  to 
their  entertainment. 

Avoid  the  error  of  giving  the  candy  vendor  too  much  time. 
An  intermission  of  eleven  minutes  has  been  observed  and  reported, 
"to  allow  the  candy  man  to  distribute  his  free  samples,  make  a 
second  tour  of  the  audience  to  sell  his  confectionery,  then  a  third  tour 
to  sell  some  songs."  Not  only  will  the  audience  resent  the  delay  to 
the  pictures,  but  the  theater  may  actually  lose  money.  When  the 
house  is  running  crowded,  and  patrons  are  waiting  at  the  door,  the 
number  of  tickets  sold  depends  upon  the  speed  with  which  those 
inside  may  be  shown  the  entire  program,  that  they  may  leave  and 
make  room  for  others.  A  300-seat  house,  at  5-cent  admission,  run- 
ning a  45-minute  program,  under  crowded  conditions,  is  making 
$15  for  each  program,  or  about  33  cents  per  minute  while  the  pictures 
are  on  the  screen.  Assuming  that  the  candy  vendor  will  be  able  to 
sell  fifty  packages  of  candy  at  five  cents  each — a  phenomenal  sale 
for  so  small  a  house — and  at  a  profit  of  two  cents  each  to  the  theater, 
then  for  that  $1  profit  on  the  candy  he  is  entitled  to  just  three  minutes' 
intermission. 

To  extend  the  intermission  one  minute  is  to  lose  more  money 
at  the  ticket  window  than  is  made  at  the  candy  basket.  When  the 
theater  manager  understands  this  clearly,  he  will  be  in  possession 
of  a  fundamental  principle  which  applies  to  all  other  side  lines  for 
profit:  Only  when  the  .v/V/r  line  does  not  decrease  the  ticket  window 
receipts,  only  when  it  leaves  them  unchanged  or  actually  increases 
them,  may  it  be  considered  as  desirable  or  profitable. 

Slot  Machines.    The  lobby,  or  entrance  of  the  theater  in  front 


209 


46  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

of  the  partition,  offers  space  for  a  few  compact  automatic  vending 
machines,  if,  in  the  manager's  best  judgment,  such  a  plan  is  advisable. 
If  the  police  regulations  of  the  town  will  permit,  an  automatic  vend- 
ing machine  may  stand  on  the  sidewalk  at  each  side  of  the  theater, 
just  in  the  foot  square  of  sidewalk  space  at  the  end  of  the  theater's 
side  walls. 

Sheet  Music  Sales.  It  is  a  favor  to  many  patrons  to  advise  them 
where  sheet  music  of  the  song  may  be  obtained.  An  announcement 
slide,  "The  song  on  our  program  is  always  for  sale  at  our  ticket  win- 
dow," has  no  objection  and  does  not  seem  advertising  matter  because 
it  pertains  to  the  theater. 

Refreshment  Annex.  In  the  airdome,  the  refreshment  business 
is  so  much  associated  with  the  motion-picture  business,  and  they  are 
so  mutually  helpful  to  each  other  that  they  usually  are  run  in  con- 
junction, each  to  boost  the  other.  In  the  motion-picture  winter 
theater,  the  relation  cannot  be  so  boldly  emphasized  or  the  depart- 
ure from  custom  will  be  noted  and  adversely  commented  upon,  but 
a  candy  store  and  soda  fountain  located  near  a  motion-picture  theater 
will  do  a  larger  business  than  if  the  theater  were  not  there. 


210 


SCENE  FROM  PHOTOPLAY,  "THE  LAST  APPEAL" 

Courtesy  of  Independent  Moving  Pictures  Co.,  New  York 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 

In  the  management  of  a  motion-picture  machine  and  theater 
the  operator,  even  if  he  be  well  versed  in  the  practical  methods  of 
running  circuits  for  his  machine,  finds  that  he  needs  a  knowledge 
of  the  elementary  principles  of  electricity  and  some  clear  conception 
of  how  the  electric  current  behaves  in  various  types  of  circuits.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  therefore,  that  only  material  deemed  perti- 
nent to  the  case  has  been  included  in  this  book.  Those  desiring 
more  information  are  referred  to  any  standard  text. 

ELECTRICITY  IN  MOTION— ELECTRICAL  CURRENTS 
Magnetic   Effect   Due  to  a  Charge   in   Motion.    An   electrical 

charge  at  rest  produces  no  magnetic  effect  whatever.     This  can  be 

proved  by  bringing  a  charged 

body  near  a   compass   needle 

or  suspended  magnet.     It  will 

attract  both  ends  equally  well 

by  virtue  of   the  principle  of 

electrostatic  induction.     If  the 

effect  were  magnetic,  one  end 

should   be    repelled    and    the 

other   attracted.     Again,   if  a 

sheet    of    zinc,  aluminum,    or       Fig  L    Magnetic  Effect  of  Electric  Currcnt 

copper  is  inserted  between  the 

deflected  needle  and  the  charge,  all  effect  which  was  produced  upon 

the  needle  by  the  charge  will  be  cut  off,  for  the  metallic  sheet  will 

act  as  an  electric  screen.     But  if  such  a  metal  screen  is  inserted  be- 
tween a  compass  needle  and  a  magnet,  its  insertion  has  no  effect  at 

all  on  the  magnetic  forces. 

If,  however,  a  charged  Leyden  jar  is  discharged  through  a' coil 

which  surrounds  an  unmagnetized  knitting  needle  in  the  manner 

shown  in  Fig.  1,  the  needle  will  be  found,  after  the  discharge,  to  have 

become  distinctly  magnetized. 

Copyright,  1911,  by  A  merican  School  of  Correspondence. 


213 


2  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

This  experiment  demonstrates  the  existence  of  some  connection 
between  electricity  and  magnetism.  Just  what  this  connection  is, 
is  not  yet  known  with  certainty;  but  it  is  known  that  magnetic  effects 
are  always  observable  near  the  path  of  a  moving  electrical  charge, 
while  no  such  effects  can  ever  be  observed  near  a  charge  at  rest. 

An  electrical  charge  in  motion  is  called  an  electrical  current,  and 
the  presence  of  such  current  in  a  conductor  is  most  commonly  de- 
tected by  the  magnetic  effect  which  it  produces. 

Galvanic  Cell.  When  a  Leyden  jar  is  discharged,  but  a  very 
small  quantity  of  electricity  passes  through  the  connecting  wires, 
since  the  current  lasts  but  a  small  fraction  of  a  second.  If  we  could 
keep  the  current  flowing  continuously  through  the  wire,  we  should 
expect  the  magnetic  effect  to  be  more  pronounced. 
This  might  be  done  by  discharging  Leyden  jars 
in  rapid  succession  through  the  wire.  In  1786, 
however,  Galvani,  an  Italian  anatomist  at  the 
University  of  Bologna,  accidently  discovered  that 
there  is  a  chemical  method  for  producing  such 
a  continuous  current.  His  discovery  was  not 
understood,  however,  until  Volta,  professor  of 
physics  at  Como,  devised  an  arrangement  which 
is  now  known  sometimes  as  the  voltaic,  some- 
times as  the  galvanic  cell. 

Such  a  cell  consists  in  its  simplest  form  of  a 
strip  of  copper  and  a  strip  of  zinc  immersed  in  dilute  sulphuric 
acid,  Fig.  2.  If  the  wires  leading  from  the  copper  and  the  zinc 
are  connected  for  a  few  seconds  to  the  end  of  the  coil  of  Fig.  1, 
when  an  unmagnetized  needle  lies  within  this  coil,  the  needle  will 
be  found  to  be  much  more  strongly  magnetized  than  it  was  when 
the  Leyden  jar  was  discharged  through  the  coil.  Or,  if  the  wire 
connecting  the  copper  and  zinc  is  simply  held  above  the  needle 
in  the  manner  shown  in  Fig.  3,  the  latter  will  be  found  to  be 
strongly  deflected.  It  is  evident  from  these  experiments  that  the 
wire  which  connects  the  terminals  of  a  galvanic  cell  carries  a  cur- 
rent of  electricity.  Historically,  the  second  of  these  experiments, 
performed  by  the  Danish  physicist  Oersted  in  1819,  preceded  the 
discovery  of  the  magnetizing  effect  of  currents  upon  needles.  It 
created  a  great  deal  of  excitement  at  the  time  because  it  was  the  first 


Fig.     2.       Simple 
Galvanic  Cells 


214 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


clew  which  had  been  found  to  a  relationship  between  electricity  and 
magnetism. 

It  might  be  inferred  from  the  above  experiments  that  the  two 
plates  of  a  galvanic  cell  when  not  connected1  by  a  wire  carry  static 


Fig.  3.     Magnetic  Effects  of  Current 

positive  and  negative  charges  just  as  do  the  two  coats  of  a  Leyden 
jar  before  it  is  discharged  through  the  wire.  This  inference  can  be 
easily  verified  with  an  electroscope. 

Thus,  if  a  metal  plate  A,  Fig.  4,  covered  with  shellac  on  its 
lower  side  and  provided  with  an  insulating  handle,  is  placed  upon  a 
similar  plate  B  which  is  in  contact  with  the  knob  on  an  electroscope; 
and  if  the  copper  plate,  for  example, 
of  a  galvanic  cell  is  connected  to  A 
and  the  zinc  to  B;  then,  when  the 
connecting  wires  are  removed  and 
the  plate  A  lifted  away  from  B,  the 
leaves  of  the  electroscope  wrill  di- 
verge and  when  tested  will  be  found 
to  be  negatively  charged.  If  the 
deflection  observed  in  the  leaves  of 
the  electroscope  is  too  small  for  the 
purposes  of  demonstration,  the  con- 
ditions can  be  bettered  by  using  a 

battery  of  from  five  to  ten  cells  instead  of  the  single  cell.  If,  how- 
ever, the  plates  A  and  B  are  sufficiently  large — say,  3  or  4  inches 
in  diameter — and  if  their  surfaces  are  very  flat,  a  single  cell  will  be 
found  to  be  sufficient.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  copper  plate  is 
connected  to  B  and  the  zinc  to  A  in  the  above  experiment,  the  elec- 


Fig.  4.     Static  Charges  on  Plates 
of  Galvanic  Cell 


215 


4  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

troscope  will  be  found  to  be  positively  charged.  This  shows  clearly 
that  the  copper  plate  possesses  a  positive  electrical  charge,  while 
the  zinc  plate  possesses  a  negative  charge,  these  charges  originating 
in  the  chemical  action  within  the  galvanic  cell. 

In  this  experiment  the  two  metal  plates  separated  by  shellac 
constitute  an  electrical  condenser  which  is  charged  positively  on 
one  side  and  negatively  on  the  other  by  connecting  it  with  the  two 
plates  of  the  galvanic  cell,  in  precisely  the  same  way  in  which  a 
Leyden  jar  is  charged  by  connecting  its  two  coats  one  to  one  terminal 
and  the  other  to  the  other  terminal  of  a  static  machine.  The  poten- 
tial of  the  plate  B  is  increased  by  moving  A  away  from  it.  This 
device  makes  it  possible  to  detect  very  small  potential  differences. 

Comparison  of  a  Galvanic  Cell  and  Static  Machine.  If  one  of 
the  terminals  of  a  galvanic  cell  is  touched  directly  to  the  knob  of 
the  gold-leaf  electroscope  without  the  use  of  the  condenser  plates 
A  and  B  of  Fig.  4,  no  divergence  of  the  leaves  can  be  detected;  but 
if  one  knob  of  a  static  machine  in  operation  were  so  touched,  the 
leaves  would  be  thrown  apart  very  violently.  Since  we  have  seen 
that  the  divergence  of  the  leaves  is  a  measure  of  the  potential  of  the 
body  to  which  they  are  connected,  we  learn  from  this  experiment  that 
the  chemical  actions  going  on  in  a  galvanic  cell  are  able  to  produce 
between  its  terminals  but  very  small  potential  differences  in.  com- 
parison with  that  produced  by  the  static  machine  between  its  ter- 
minals. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  potential  difference  between  the 
terminals  of  the  cell  is  but  one  volt,  while  that  between  the  terminals 
of  an  electrical  machine  may  be  several  hundred  thousand  volts. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  knobs  of  the  static  machine  are  con- 
nected to  the  ends  of  the  wire  shown  in  Fig.  3,  and  the  machine 
operated,  the  current  will  not  be  large  enough  to  produce  any  ap- 
preciable effect  upon  the  needle.  Since,  under  these  same  circum- 
stances the  galvanic  cell  produced  a  very  large  effect  upon  the  needle, 
we  learn  that  although  the  cell  develops  a  much  smaller  p.  d.  than 
does  the  static  machine,  it  nevertheless  sends  through  the  wire  a 
very  much  larger  amount  of  electricity  per  second.  This  means 
merely  that  the  chemical  actions  which  are  going  on  within  the  cell 
are  able  to  recharge  the  plates  when  they  become  discharged  through 
the  electric  wire,  far  more  rapidly  than  is  the  static  machine  able  to 
recharge  its  terminals  after  they  have  once  been  discharged. 


216 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  5 

Shape  of  Magnetic  Field  about  a  Current.  If  we  place  the  wire 
which  connects  the  plates  of  a  galvanic  cell  in  a  vertical  position, 
Fig.  5,  and  explore  with  a 
compass  needle  the  shape  of 
the  magnetic  field  about  the 
current,  we  find  that  the  mag- 
netic lines  are  concentric  cir- 
cles lying  in  a  plane  perpen- 
dicular to  the  wire  and  having 
the  wire  as  their  common 
center.  If  we  reverse  the 
direction  of  the  current,  we 
find  that  the  direction  in  which 
the  compass  needle  points 

reverses    also.       If  the  Current  Fig.  5.     Magnetic  Field  Around  a  Conductor 

is  very  strong,  say  40  amperes, 

this  shape  of  the  field  can  be  shown  by  scattering  iron  filings  on  a 
plate  through  which  the  current  passes,  in  the  manner  shown  in  Fig.  5. 
The  relation  between  the  direction  in  which  the  current  flows  and 
the  direction  in  which  the  positive  end  of  the  needle  points — this  is 
by  definition,  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  field — is  given  in  the 
following  rule:  If  the  right  hand  grasps  the  wire  as  in  Fig.  6,  so 
that  the  thumb  points  in  the  direction  in  which  the  positive  electricity 
is  moving,  that  is,  in  the  direction  from  the  copper  toward  the  zinc, 
then  the  magnetic  lines  encircle  the  wire  in  the  same  direction  as  do 


Fig.  6.      Right-Hand  Screw  Rule  for 
Direction  of  Magnetic  Field 


the  fingers  of  the  hand.  Another  way  of  stating  this  rule  is  as  follows : 
The  relation  between  the  direction  of  the  current  in  a  wire  and  the  di- 
rection of  the  magjietic  lines  about  it,  is  the  same  as  the  relation  be- 
tween the  direction  of  the  forward  motion  of  a  right-handed  scn-tr 
and  the  direction  of  rotation  when  it  is  being  driven  in.  In  this  form 
the  rule  is  known  as  the  right-hand  screw  rule. 


217 


6  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Measurement  of  Electrical  Currents.  Electrical  currents  are, 
in  general,  measured  by  the  strength  of  the  magnetic  effect  which 
they  are  able  to  produce  under  specific  conditions.  Thus,  if  the 
wire  carrying  a  current  is  wound  into  circular  form  as  in  Fig.  7,  the 
right-hand  screw  rule  shows  us  that  the  shape  of  the  magnetic  field 
at  the  center  of  the  coil  is  similar  to  that  shown  in  the  figure.  If, 
then,  the  coil  is  placed  in  a  north-and-south  plane  and  a  compass 
needle  is  placed  at  the  center,  the  passage  of  the  current  through 
the  coil  tends  to  deflect  the  needle  so  as  to  make  it  point  east  and 
west.  The  amount  of  deflection  under  these  conditions  is  taken  as 
the  measure  of  current  strength.  The  unit  of  current  is  called  the 
ampere  and  is,  in  fact,  approximately  the  same  as  the  current  which, 
flowing  through  a  circular  coil  of  three  turns  and  10  centimeters 
radius,  set  in  a  north-and-south  plane,  will  produce  at  Washington 


Fig.  7.     Plotting  Field  About  Circular  Conductor 

a  deflection  of  45  degrees  in  a  small  compass  needle  placed  in  its  cen- 
ter, as  in  Fig.  7.  Nearly  all  current-measuring  instruments,  com- 
monly called  ammeters,  consist  essentially  either  of  a  small  magnet 
suspended  at  the  center  of  a  fixed  coil  as  in  Fig.  7,  or  of  a  movable 
coil  suspended  between  the  poles  of  a  fixed  magnet.  The  passage  of 
the  current  through  the  coil  produces  a  deflection,  in  the  first  case, 
of  the  magnetic  needle  with  reference  to  the  fixed  coil,  and  in  the 
second  case,  of  the  coil  with  reference  to  the  fixed  magnet.  If  the 
instrument  has  been  suitably  calibrated,  the  amount  of  the  deflection 
gives  at  once  the  strength  of  the  current  in  amperes. 

Electromotive  Force  and  Its  Measurements.  The  potential 
difference  which  a  galvanic  cell  or  other  generator  of  electricity  is 
able  to  maintain  between  its  terminals  when  these  terminals  are  not 
connected  by  a  wire,  i.  e.,  the  total  electrical  pressure  which  the 


218 


II 


II 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


generator  is  capable  of  exerting,  is  commonly  called  its  electromotive 
force,  or  e.  m.  f.  The  e.  m.  f  of  an  electrical  generator  may  then  be 
defined  as  its  capacity  for  producing  electrical  pressure,  or  p.d.  This 
p.  d.  might  be  measured  by  the  deflection  produced  in  an  electroscope, 
or  other  similar  instrument,  when  one  terminal  was  connected  to 
the  case  of  the  electroscope  and  the  other  terminal  to  the  knob. 
Potential  differences  are  in  fact  measured  in  this  way  in  all  so-called 
electrostatic  voltmeters,  which  are 
now  coming  more  and  more  into 


-—-.a. 


The  more  common  type  of 
potential  difference  measurers,  so- 
called  voltmeters,  consists,  however, 
of  an  instrument  made  like  an 
ammeter,  save  that  the  coil  of  wire 
is  made  of  an  enormous  number  of 
turns  of  extremely  fine  wire,  so  that 
it  carries  at  very  small  current. 
The  amount  of  current  which  it 
does  carry,  however,  and  therefore 
the  amount  of  deflection  of  its 
needle,  is  taken  as  proportional  to 
the  difference  in  electrical  pres- 
sure existing  between  its  ends  when 
these  are  touched  to  the  two  points 
whose  p.  d.  is  sought.  The  prin- 
ciple underlying  this  type  of  voltmeter  will  be  better  understood 
from  a  consideration  of  the  following  water  analogy.  If  the  stop- 
cock K  Fig.  8,  in  the  pipe  connecting  the  water  tanks  C  and  D  is 
closed,  and  if  the  water  wheel  A  is  set  in  motion  by  applying  a 
weight  IF,  the  wheel  will  turn  until  it  creates  such  a  difference  in  the 
water  levels  between  C  and  D  that  the  back  pressure  against  the 
left  face  of  the  wheel  stops  it  and  brings  the  weight  IF  to  rest.  In 
precisely  the  same  way,  the  chemical  action  within  the  galvanic 
cell  whose  terminals  are  not  joined,  Fig.  9,  develops  positive  and 
negative  charges  upon  these  terminals,  that  is,  creates  a  p.  d.  between 
them,  until  the  back  electrical  pressure  through  the  cell  due  to  this 
p.  d.  is  sufficient  to  put  a  stop  to  further  chemical  action. 


Hydrostatic  Analogy  of 
Potential  Difference 


219 


8 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Now,  if  the  water  reservoirs,  Fig.  8,  are  put  in  communication 
by  opening  the  stop-cock  K,  the  difference  in  level  between  C  and  D 
will  begin  to  fall,  and  the  wheel  will  begin  to  build  it  up  again.  But 
if  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  pipe  a  b  is  small  in  comparison  with  the 
capacity  of  the  wheel  to  remove  water  from  D  and  to  supply  it  to  C, 
then  the  difference  of  level  which  permanently  exists  between  C  and 
D  when  K  is  open  will  not  be  appreciably  smaller  than  when  it  is 
closed.  In  this  case  the  current  which  flows  through  AB  may 
obviously  be  taken  as  a  measure  of  the  difference  in  pressure  which 
the  pump  is  able  to  maintain  between  C  and  D  when  K  is  closed. 

In  precisely  the  same  way,  if  the  terminal 
C  and  D  of  the  cell,  Fig.  9,  are  connected  by 
attaching  to  them  the  terminals  a  and  b  of 
any  conductor,  they  at  once  begin  to  discharge 
through  this  conductor,  and  their  p..d.,  there- 
fore, begins  to  fall.  But  if  the  chemical 
action  in  the  cell  is  able  to  recharge  C  and 
Dvery  rapidly  in  comparison  with  the  ability 
of  the  wire  to  discharge  them,  then  the  p.  d. 
between  C  and  D  will  not  be  appreciably 
lowered  by  the  presence  of  the  connecting 
conductor.  In  this  case  the  current  which 
flows  through  the  conducting  coil,  and,  there- 
fore, the  deflection  of  the  needle  at  its  center,  may  be  taken  as  a 
measure  of  the  electrical  pressure  developed  by  the  cell,  that  is,  of 
the  p.  d.  between  its  unconnected  terminals. 

The  common  voltmeter  is,  then,  exactly  like  an  ammeter, 
save  that  its  coil  offers  so  high  a  resistance  to  the  passage  of 
electricity  through  it  that  it  does  not  assist  appreciably  in  discharg- 
ing, that  is,  in  reducing  the  p.  d.  between  the  points  to  which  it  is 
connected. 

The  unit  of  p.  d.  may  be  taken  for  practical  purposes  as  the 
electrical  pressure  produced  by  a  simple  galvanic  cell  consisting  of 
zinc  and  copper  immersed  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid.  It  is  named  a 
volt  in  honor  of  Volta. 

Electromotive  Forces  of  Galvanic  Cells.  When  a  voltmeter  of 
any  sort  is  connected  to  the  terminals  of  a  galvanic  cell,  it  is  found 
that  the  deflection  produced  is  altogether  independent  of  the  shape 


Fig.  9.     Principle  of  Cor 
mon  Voltmeter 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  9 

or  size  of  the  plates  or  their  distance  apart.  But  if  the  nature  of  the 
plates  is  changed,  the  deflection  changes.  Thus,  while  copper  and 
zinc  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid  have  an  e.  m.  f.  of  one  volt,  carbon  and 
zinc  show  an  e.  m.  f.  of  at  least  1.5  volts,  while  carbon  and  copper 
will  show  an  e.  m.  f.  of  very  much  less  than  a  volt.  Similarly,  by 
changing  the  nature  of  the  liquid  in  which  the  plates  are  immersed, 
we  can  produce  changes  in  the  deflection  of  the  voltmeter.  We 
learn,  therefore,  that  the  e.  m.  f.  of  a  galvanic  cell  depends  simply  up- 
on the  materials  of  which  the  cell  is  composed  and  not  at  all  upon  the 
shape,  size,  or  distance  apart  of  the  plates. 

Electrical  Resistance.  If  the  terminals  of  a  galvanic  cell  are 
connected  first  to,  say,  10  feet  of  No.  30  copper  wire,  and  then  to 
10  feet  of  No.  30  German-silver  wire,  it  is  found  that  a  compass 
needle  placed  at  a  given  distance  from  the  copper  wire  will  show  a 
much  larger  deflection  than  when  placed  the  same  distance  from  the 
German-silver  wire.  A  cell  therefore,  which  is  capable  of  develop- 
ing a  certain  fixed  electrical  pressure  is  able  to  force  very  much  more 
current  through  a  given  wire  of  copper  than  through  an  exactly  similar 
wire  of  German-silver.  We  say,  therefore,  that  German-silver  offers 
a  higher  resistance  to  the  passage  of  electricity  than  does  copper. 
Similarly,  every  particular  substance  has  its  own  characteristic 
power  of  transmitting  electrical  currents.  Silver  being  the  best  con- 
ductor of  any  known  substances,  the  resistances  of  different  sub- 
stances are  commonly  referred  to  silver  as  a  standard,  and  the  ratio 
between  the  resistance  of  a  given  wire  of  any  substance  and  the 
resistance  of  an  exactly  similar  silver  wire  is  called  the  specific  re- 
sistance of  that  substance.  The  specific  resistance  of  some  of  the 
commoner  metals  are  as  follows: 

Silver 1 .00     Soft  iron 7.40     German  silver 20.4 

Copper 1.13     Nickel 7.87     Hard  steel 21.0 

Aluminum 2.00     Platinum 9.00     Mercury . . .62.7 

The  unit  of  resistance  is  the  resistance  of  0°  of  a  column  of  mer- 
cury 100.3  centimeters  long  and  1  square  millimeter  in  cross-section. 
It  is  called  an  ohm,  in  honor  of  the  great  German  physicist,  Georg 
Ohm  (1789-1854).  A  length  of  9.35  feet  of  No.  30  copper  wire,  or  6.2 
inches  of  No.  30  German-silver  wire,  has  a  resistance  of  about  one 
ohm.  Copper  wire  of  the  size  shown  in  Fig.  10  has  a  resistance 
of  about  2.62  ohms  per  mile. 


221 


10  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

The  resistances  of  all  metals  increase  with  rise  in  temperature. 
The  resistances  of  liquid  conductors,  on  the  other  hand,  usually 
decrease  with  rise  in  temperature.  Carbon 
and  a  few  other  solids  show  a  similar  be- 
Fig  107  CoEPpae?w^e0f  No"  havior:  the  filament  in  an  incandescent  lamp 
has  only  about  half  the  resistance  when  hot 

that  it  has  when  cold.  The  resistances  of  wires  of  the  same  material 
are  found  to  be  directly  proportional  to  their  lengths,  and  inversely 
proportional  to  their  cross-sections. 

Ohm's  Law.  In  1827,  Ohm  announced  the  discovery  that 
the  currents  furnished  by  different  galvanic  cells,  or  combinations  of 
cells,  are  always  directly  proportional  to  the  e.  m.  f.'s  existing  in  the 
circuits  in  which  the  currents  flow,  and  inversely  'proportional  to  the 
total  resistances  of  these  circuits;  that  is,  if  C  represents  the  current  in 
amperes,  E  the  e.  m.  f.  in  volts,  and  R  the  resistance  of  the  circuit  in 
ohms,  then  Ohm's  law  as  applied  to  the  complete  circuit  is 

E  electromotive  force 

(./«=—;  i.  e.,  current  =  — 

R  resistance 

As  applied  to  any  portion  of  an  electrical  circuit,  Ohm's  law  is 

pd  potential  difference 

C  =  1—;  i.  e.,  current  =  !- £- 

r  resistance 

where  pd  represents  the  difference  of  potential  in  volts  between  any 
two  points  in  the  circuit,  and  r  the  resistance  in  ohms  of  the  conductor 
connecting  these  two  points.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  laws 
in  physics. 

Both  of  the  above  statements  of  Ohm's  law  are  included  in  the 
equation 

ohms 

amperes •  = 

volts 

Internal  Resistance  of  a  Galvanic  Cell.  If  the  zinc  and  copper 
plates  of  a  simple  cell  are  connected  to  an  ammeter,  and  the  distance 
between  the  plates  then  increased,  the  deflection  of  the  needle  is 
found  to  decrease,  or  if  the  amount  of  immersion  is  decreased  the 
current  also  will  decrease.  But  since  the  e.  m.  f.  of  a  cell  has  been 
shown  to  be  wholly  independent  of  the  area  of  the  plates  immersed 


222 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  11 

or  of  the  distance  between  them,  it  will  be  seen  from  Ohm's  law  that 
the  change  in  the  current  in  these  cases  must  be  due  to  some  change 
in  the  total  resistance  of  the  circuit.  Since  the  wire  which  consti- 
tutes the  outside  portion  of  the  circuit  has  remained  the  same,  we 
must  conclude  that  the  liquid  within  the  cell,  as  well  as  the  external 
wire,  offers  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  current.  This  internal 
resistance  of  the  liquid  is  directly  proportional  to  the  distance  be- 
tween the  plates,  and  inversely  proportional  to  the  area  of  the  im- 
mersed portion  of  the  plates.  If,  then,  we  represent  the  external 
resistance  of  the  circuit  of  a  galvanic  cell  by  Re  and  the  internal  by 
Ri  then  Ohm's  law  as  applied  to  the  entire  circuit  takes  the  form 

E 


Thus,  if  a  simple  cell  has  an  internal  resistance  of  2  ohms  and  an 
e.  m.  f.  of  1  volt,  the  current  which  will  flow  through  the  circuit 
when  its  terminals  are  connected  by  9.3  feet  of  No.  30  copper  wire 

(1  ohm)  is  -  =    33  ampere.     This  is  about  the  current  which  is 
usually  obtained  from  an  ordinary  Daniell  cell. 

PRIMARY  CELLS 

Action  of  a  Simple  Cell.  If  the  simple  cell  already  mentioned 
—  namely,  zinc  and  copper  strips  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid  —  is  care- 
fully observed,  it  will  be  seen  that,  so  long  as  the  plates  are  not  con- 
nected by  a  conductor,  fine  bubbles  of  gas  are  slowly  formed  at  the 
zinc  plate,  but  none  at  the  copper  plate.  As  soon,  however,  as  the 
two  strips  are  put  into  electrical  connection,  bubbles  instantly  ap- 
pear in  great  numbers  about  the  copper  plate  and  at  the  same  time  a 
current  manifests  itself  in  the  connecting  wire,  Fig.  11.  The  bub- 
bles are  of  hydrogen.  Their  original  appearance  on  the  zinc  plate 
may  be  prevented  either  by  using  a  plate  of  chemically  pure  zinc,  or 
by  amalgamating  impure  zinc,  that  is,  by  coating  it  over  with  a  thin 
film  of  mercury.  But  the  bubbles  on  the  copper  cannot  be  thus  dis- 
posed of.  They  are  an  invariable  accompaniment  of  the  current  in 
the  circuit.  If  the  current  is  allowed  to  run  for  a  considerable  time, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  zinc  wastes  away,  even  though  it  has  been 
amalgamated,  but  the  copper  plate  does  not  undergo  any  change. 


223 


12 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


An  electrical  current  in  a  simple  cell  is,  then,  accompanied  by 
the  eating  up  of  the  zinc  plate  by  the  liquid,  and  by  the  evolution  of 
hydrogen  bubbles  at  the  copper  plate.  In  every  type  of  galvanic 
cell,  actions  similar  to  these  two  are  always  found,  that  is,  one  of  the 
plates  is  always  eaten  up,  and  on  the  other 
some  clement  is  deposited.  The  plate  which 
is  eaten  is  always  the  one  which  is  found 
to  be  negatively  charged,  while  the  other 
is  always  found  to  be  positively  charged; 
so  that  in  all  galvanic  cells,  when  the  ter- 
minals are  connected  through  a  wire,  the 
positive  electricity  flows  through  this  wire 
from  the  uneaten  plate  to  the  eaten  plate. 

~-j*  --^Zzr^y  ijf  3  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  direction  in 
which  the  positive  electricity  flows  is  taken  for 
convenience  as  the  direction  of  the  current. 

Theory  of  Action  of  a  Simple  Cell.  A 
simple  cell  may  be  made  of  any  two  dissimilar 
metals  immersed  in  a  solution  of  any  acid  or 
salt.  For  simplicity,  let  us  examine  the  action 
of  a  cell  composed  of  plates  of  zinc  and  copper  immersed  in  a  dilute 
solution  of  hydrochloric  acid.  The  chemical  formula  for  hydrochloric 
acid  is  HC1.  This  means  that  each  molecule  of  the  acid  consists  of  one 
atom  of  hydrogen  combined  with  one  atom  of  chlorine.  In  accordance 
with  the  theory  now  in  vogue  among  physicists  and  chemists,  when 
hydrochloric  acid  is  mixed  with  water  so  as  to  form  a  dilute  solution, 
the  HC1  molecules  split  up  into  two  electrically  charged  parts,  called 
ions,  the  hydrogen  ion  carrying  a  positive  charge  and  the  chlorine 
ion  an  equal  negative  charge,  Fig.  12.  This  phenomenon  is  known 
as  dissociation.  The  solution  as  a  whole  is  neutral,  i.  e.,  it  is  un- 
charged, because  it  contains  just  as  many  positive  as  negative  ions. 

When  a  zinc  plate  is  placed  in  such  a  solution,  the  acid  attacks 
it  and  pulls  zinc  atoms  into  solution.  Now,  whenever  a  metal  dis- 
solves in  an  acid,  its  atoms,  for  some  unknown  reason,  go  into  solu- 
tion bearing  little  positive  charges.  The  corresponding  negative 
charges  must  be  left  on  the  zinc  plate  in  precisely  the  same  way  in 
which  a  negative  charge  is  left  on  silk  when  positive  electrification 
is  produced  on  a  glass  rod  by  rubbing  it  with  the  silk.  It  is  in  this 


Fig.   11.     Action  of 
Simple  Cell 


224 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


13 


way,  then,  that  we  attempt  to  account  for  the  negative  charge  which 
we  find  upon  the  zinc  plate  in  the  experiment  illustrated  in  Fig.  4. 

The  passage  of  positively  charged  zinc  ions  into  solution  gives 
a  positive  charge  to  the  solution  about  the  zinc  plate,  so  that  the 
hydrogen  ions  tend  to  be  repelled  toward  the  copper  plate.  When 
these  repelled  hydrogen  ions  reach  the  copper  plate  some  of  them 
give  up  their  charges  to  it  and  then  collect  as  bubbles  of  hydrogen 
gas.  It  is  in  this  way  that  we  account  for  the  positive  charge  which 
we  find  on  the  copper  plate  in  the  experiment  illustrated  in  Fig.  4. 

If  the  zinc  and  copper  plates  are  not  connected  by  an  outside 
conductor,  this  passage  of  positively  charged  zinc  ions  into  solution 
continues  but  a  very  short  time,  for  the  zinc  soon  becomes  so  strongly 
charged  negatively  that  it  pulls  back  on  the  plus  zinc  ions  with  as  much 
force  as  the  acid  pulls  them  into 
solution.  In  precisely  the  same 
way  the  copper  plate  soon  ceases 
to  take  up  any  more  positive  elec- 
tricity from  the  hydrogen  ions, 
since  it  soon  acquires  a  large  enough 
plus  charge  to  repel  them  from  it- 
self with  a  force  equal  to  that  with 
which  they  are  being  driven  out  of 
solution  by  the  positively  charged 
zinc  ions.  It  is  in  this  way  that  we 
account  for  the  fact  that  on  open 
circuit  no  chemical  action  goes  on 
in  the  simple  galvanic  cell,  the  zinc  and  copper  plates  simply  becom- 
ing charged  to  a  definite  difference  of  potential  which  is  called  the 
e.  m.  f.  of  the  cell. 

When,  however,  the  copper  and  zinc  plates  are  connected  by  a 
wire,  a  current  at  once  flows  from  the  copper  to  the  zinc,  and  the 
plates  thus  begin  to  lose  their  charges.  This  allows  the  acid  to  pull 
more  zinc  into  solution  at  the  zinc  plate,  and  allows  more  hydrogen 
to  go  out  of  solution  at  the  copper  plate.  These  processes,  therefore, 
go  on  continuously  so  long  as  the  plates  are  connected.  Hence,  a 
continuous  current  flows  through  the  connecting  wire  until  the  zinc 
is  all  eaten  up  or  the  hydrogen  ions  have  all  been  driven  out  of  the 
solution,  i.  c.,  until  either  the  plate  or  the  acid  has  become  exhausted. 


Fig.  12.     Dissociation  of  Ions  in 
Simple  Cell 


225 


14 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Polarization.  If  the  simple  cell,  which  has  been  described, 
is  connected  to  an  ammeter  and  the  deflection  observed  for  a  few 
minutes,  it  is  found  to  produce  a  current  of  continually  decreasing 
strength;  but  if  the  hydrogen  is  removed  from  the  copper  plate  by 
taking  out  the  plate  and  drying  it,  the  deflection  returns  to  its  first 
value.  This  phenomenon  is  called  polarization. 

The  presence  of  the  hydrogen  on  the  positive  plate  causes  a 
diminution  in  the  strength  of  the  current  for  two  reasons:  First,  since 
hydrogen  is  a  non-conductor,  by  collecting  on 
the  plate  it  diminishes  the  effective  area  of  the 
plate  and,  therefore,  increases  the  internal 
resistance  of  the  cell ;  second,  by  collecting  upon 
the  copper  plate  it  lowers  the  e.  m.  f.  of  the 
cell,  because  it  virtually  substitutes  a  hydrogen 
plate  for  the  copper  plate,  and  we  have  already 
seen  that  a  change  in  any  of  the  materials  of 
which  a  cell  is  composed  changes  its  e.  m.  f. 

The  different  forms  of  galvanic  cells  in 
common  use  differ  chiefly  in  different  devices 
employed  either  for  disposing  of  the  hydrogen 
bubbles  or  for  preventing  their  formation. 
The  most  common  types  of  such  cells  are 
described  in  the  following  sections. 

Bichromatic  Cell.     The  bichromate  cell, 
Fis.  is7  Bichromate  Cell     Fig-  13>  consists  of  a  plate  of  zinc  immersed 
in  sulphuric  acid  between  two  plates  of  carbon, 

carbon  being  used  instead  of  copper  because  it  gives  a  greater  e.  m.  f. 
In  the  sulphuric  acid  is  dissolved  some  bichromate  of  potassium  or 
sodium,  the  function  of  which  is  to  unite  chemically  with  the  hydro- 
gen as  fast  as  it  is  formed  at  the  positive  plate,  thus  preventing  its 
accumulation  upon  this  plate.*  Such  a  cell  has  the  high  e.  m.  f. 
of  2.1  volts.  Its  internal  resistance  is  low — from  .2  to  .5  ohm — since 
the  plates  are  generally  large  and  close  together.  It  will  be  seen, 
therefore,  that  when  the  external  resistance  is  very  small  it  is  capable 
of  furnishing  a  current  of  from  5  to  10  amperes.  Since,  however,  the 
chromic  acid  formed  by  the  union  of  the  sulphuric  acid  with  the  bi- 

*To  set  up  a  bichromate  cell,  dissolve  12  parts,  by  weight,  of  sodium  bichromate  in 
180  parts  of  boiling  water.  After  cooling,  add  25  parts  of  commercial  sulphuric  acid. 


226 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


15 


chromate  attacks  the  zinc  even  when  the  circuit  is  open,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  lift  the  zinc  from  the  liquid  by  the  rod  A,  when  the  cell  is  not 
in  use.  Such  cells  are  useful  where  large  currents  are  needed  for  a 
short  time.  The  great  disadvantages  are  that  the  fluid  deteriorates 
rapidly,  and  that  the  zinc  cannot  be  left  in  the  liquid. 

Daniell  Cell.  The  Daniell  cell  consists  of  a  zinc  plate  immersed 
in  zinc  sulphate,  and  a  copper  plate  immersed  in  copper  sulphate, 
the  two  liquids  being  kept  apart  either  by  means  of  a  porous  earthen 
cup,  as  in  the  types  shown  in  Fig.  14,  or  else  by  gravity,  as  in  the  type 
shown  in  Fig.  15.  This  last  type,  commonly  called  the  gravity,  or 


Fig.   14.     Section  of  Daniell  Cell          Danio'l  Coll  (Commercial  Type) 

crowfoot  type,  is  used  almost  exclusively  on  telegraph  lines.  The 
copper  sulphate,  being  the  heavier  of  the  two  liquids,  remains  at  the 
bottom  about  the  copper  plate,  while  the  zinc  sulphate  remains  at  the 
top  about  the  zinc  plate. 

In  this  cell  polarization  is  almost  entirely  avoided,  for  the  reason 
that  no  opportunity  is  given  for  the  formation  of  hydrogen  bubbles. 
For,  just  as  the  hydrochloric  acid  solution  consists  of  positive  hydro- 
gen ions  and  negative  chloride  ions  in  water,  so  the  zinc  sulphate 
(ZnSO4)  solution  consists  of  positive  zinc  ions  and  negative  SO4 
ions.  Now  the  zinc  of  the  zinc  plate  goes  into  solution  in  the  zinc 
sulphate  in  precisely  the  same  way  that  it  goes  into  solution  in  the 


227 


16 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


hydrochloric  acid  of  the  simple  cell.  This  gives  a  positive  charge 
to  the  solution  about  the  zinc  plate,  and  causes  a  movement  of  the 
positive  ions  between  the  two  plates  from  the  zinc  toward  the  copper, 
and  of  negative  ions  in  the  opposite  direction,  both  the  Zn  and  the 
SO4  ions  being  able  to  pass  through  the  porous  cup.  Since  the  posi- 
tive ions  about  the  copper  plate  consist  of  atoms  of  copper,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  material  which  is  driven  out  of  solution  at  the  copper 
plate,  instead  of  being  hydrogen,  as  in  the  simple  cell,  is  metallic 
copper.  Since,  then,  the  element  which  is  deposited  on  the  copper 
plate  is  of  the  same  molecular  structure  as  that  of  which  it  already 
consists,  it  is  clear  that  neither  the  electromotive  force  nor  the 
resistance  of  the  cell  can  be  changed  by  the  presence  of  this 
deposit,  i.  e.,  the  cause  of  the  polarization  of  the  simple  cell  has 
been  removed. 

The  great  advantage  of  the  Daniell  cell  lies  in  the  relatively 
high  degree  of  constancy  in  its  e.  m.  f.  (1.08  volts).  It  has  a  com- 
paratively high  internal  resistance — one  to  six 
ohms — and  is,  therefore,  incapable  of  produc- 
ing very  large  currents,  about  one  ampere  at 
most.  It  will  furnish  a  very  constant  cur- 
rent, however,  for  a  great  length  of  time;  in 
fact  until  all  of  the  copper  is  driven  out  of 
the  copper  sulphate  solution.  In  order  to 
keep  a  constant  supply  of  the  copper  ions  in 
the  solution,  copper  sulphate  crystals  are  kept 
in  the  compartment  S  of  the  cell  of  Fig.  14, 
or  in  the  bottom  of  the  gravity  cell.  These 
dissolve  as  fast  as  the  solution  loses  its 
strength  through  the  deposition  of  copper  on 

Fig.   15.   Gravity  Cell        the  COPPCr  Plate' 

The  Daniell  is  a  so-called  closed-circuit  cell, 

i.  e.,  its  circuit  should  be  left  closed — through  a  resistance  of  thirty 
or  forty  ohms — whenever  the  cell  is  not  in  use.  If  it  is  left  on  open 
circuit,  the  copper  sulphate  diffuses  through  the  porous  cup,  and  a 
brownish  muddy  deposit  of  copper  or  copper  oxide  is  formed  upon 
the  zinc.  Pure  copper  is  also  deposited  in  the  pores  of  the  porous 
cup.  Both  of  these  actions  damage  the  cell.  When  the  circuit  is 
closed,  however,  since  the  electrical  forces  always  keep  the  copper 


228 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  17 

ions  moving  toward  the  copper  plate,  these  damaging  effects  are  to  a 
large  extent  avoided 

Leclanche  CM.  The  Leclanche"  cell,  Fig.  16,  consists  of  a  zinc 
rod  in  a  solution  of  ammonium  chloride — 150  g.  to  a  liter  of  water — 
and  a  carbon  plate  placed  inside  of  a  porous  cup  which  is  packed 
full  of  manganese  dioxide  and  powdered  graphite  or  carbon.  As 
in  the  simple  cell,  the  zinc  dissolves  in  the  liquid,  and  hydrogen  is 
liberated  at  the  carbon,  or  positive,  plate.  Here 
it  is  slowly  attacked  by  the  manganese  dioxide. 
This  chemical  action  is,  however,  not  quick 
enough  to  prevent  rapid  polarization  when 
large  currents  are  taken  from  the  cell.  The 
cell  -slowly  recovers  when  allowed  to  stand  for 
a  while  on  open  circuit.  The  e.  m.  f.  of  a 
Leclanche  cell  is  about  1.5  volts,  and  its  initial 
internal  resistance  is  somewhat  less  than  an 
ohm.  It,  therefore,  furnishes  a  momentary 
current  of  from  one  to  three  amperes.  p.  1(J 

The  immense  advantage  of   this  type  of 

cell  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  zinc  is  not  at  all  eaten  by  the  ammonium 
chloride  when  the  circuit  is  open,  and  that,  therefore,  unlike  the 
Daniell  or  bichromate  cells,  it  can  be  left  for  an  indefinite  time 
on  open  circuit  without  deterioration.  Leclanche"  cells  are  used 
almost  exclusively  where  momentary  currents  only  are  needed,  as, 
for  example,  on  door-bell  circuits.  The  cell  requires  no  attention 
for  years  at  a  time,  other  than  the  occasional  addition  of  water  to 
replace  loss  by  evaporation,  and  the  occasional  addition  of  ammo- 
nium chloride  (NH4C1)  to  keep  positive  NH4  and  negative  Cl  ions  in 
the  solution. 

Dry  Cell.  The  dry  cell  is  only  a  modified  form  of  the  Leclanche* 
cell.  It  is  not  really  dry,  since  the  zinc  and  carbon  plates  are  im- 
bedded in  moist  paste  which  consists  usually  of  one  part  of  crystals 
of  ammonium  chloride,  three  parts  of  plaster  of  Paris,  one  part  of 
zinc  oxide,  one  part  of  zinc  chloride,  and  two  parts  of  water.  The 
plaster  of  Paris  is  necessary  in  order  to  give  the  paste  the  re- 
quired rigidity.  As  in  the  Lccjanche'  cell,  the  current  is  produced 
by  the  chemical  action  of  the  ammonium  chloride  upon  the  zinc 
plate  which  forms  the  outside  wall  of  the  cell. 


229 


18 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Combinations  of  Cells.  There  are  two  ways  in  which  cells 
may  be  combined:  First,  in  series;  and  second,  in  parallel.  When 
they  are  connected  in  series  the  zinc  of  one  cell  is  joined  to  the  copper 
of  the  second,  the  zinc  of  the  second  to  the  copper  of  the  third,  etc., 
the  copper  of  the  first  and  the  zinc  of  the  last  being  joined  to  the  ends 
of  the  external  resistance,  Fig.  17.  The  e.  m.  f.  of  such  a  combina- 
tion is  the  sum  of  the  e.  m.  f.'s  of  the  single  cells.  The  internal  re- 
sistance of  the  combination  is  also  the  sum  of  the  internal  resistances 
of  the  single  cells.  Hence,  if  the  external  resistances  are  very  small, 
the  current  furnished  by  the  combination  will  not  be  larger  than  that 
furnished  by  a  single  cell,  since  the  total  resistance  of  the  circuit  has 
been  increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  total  e.  m.  f.  But  if  the  ex- 


Fig.  17.     Cells  Connected  in  Series 

ternal  resistance  is  large,  the  current  produced  by  the  combination 
will  be  very  much  greater  than  that  produced  by  a  single  cell.  Just 
how  much  greater  can  always  be  determined  by  applying  Ohm's  law, 
for  if  there  are  n  cells  in  series,  and  E  is  the  e.  m.  f.  of  each  cell,  the 
total  e.  m.  f.  of  the  circuit  is  n  E.  Hence  if  Re  is  the  external  resist- 
ance and  Ri  the  internal  resistance  of  a  single  cell,  then  Ohm's  law 
gives 

nE 


Re  +   llRi 

If  the  n  cells  are  connected  in  parallel,  that  is,  if  all  the  coppers 
are  connected  together  and  all  the  zincs,  as  in  Fig.  18,  the  e.  m.  f.  of 
the  combination  is  only  the  e.  m.  f.  of  a  single  cell,  while  the  internal 

resistance  is  —  of  that  of  a  single  cell,  since  connecting  the  cells  in 
n 


230 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


19 


this  way  is  simply  equivalent  to  multiplying  the  area  of  the  plates  n 
times.  The  current  furnished  by  such  a  combination  will  be  given 
by  the  formula 


c- 


If,  therefore,  Re  is  negligibly  small,  as  in  the  case  of  a  heavy 
copper  wire,  the  current  flawing  through  it  will  be  n  times  as  great  as 
that  which  couid  be  made  to  flow  through  it  by  a 
single  cell.     These  considerations  show  that  the 
rules  which  should  govern  the  combination  of  cells 
are  as  follows: 

When  the  external  resistance  is  large  in  com- 
parison with  the  internal  resistance  of  a  single  cell, 
the  cells  should  be  connected  in  series. 

When  the  external  resistance  is  small  in  com- 
parison with  the  internal  resistance  of  a  single  cell, 
the  cells  should  be  connected  in  parallel. 

Storage  Battery.  If  two  lead  plates  are 
immersed  in  sulphuric  acid  and  the  current  sent 
through  the  cell,  the  anode  or  plate  at  which 
the  current  enters  the  solution  will  be  found 
in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  to  turn  dark 
brown.  This  brown  coat  is  a  compound  of 
lead  with  the  oxygen  which,  in  the  case  of  the  platinum  electrodes, 
was  evolved  as  a  gas.  The  other  lead  plate  is  not  affected  by  the 
hydrogen,  which  is,  in  this  case,  as  in  that  of  the  platinum,  evolved  as 
a  gas.  Since  the  passage  of  the  current  through  this  cell  has  left 
one  plate  unchanged,  while  it  has  changed  the  surface  of  the  other 
plate  to  a  new  substance,  namely,  lead  peroxide,  PbO2,  it  might  be 
expected  that  if  the  charging  battery  were  removed,  and  these  two 
dissimilar  plates  connected  with  a  wire,  a  current  will  flow  through 
the  wire,  for  the  arrangement  is  now  essentially  a  simple  galvanic 
cell,  which  in  its  essentials  consists  simply  of  two  dissimilar  plates 
immersed  in  an  electrolyte — a  conducting  liquid  other  than  a  molten 
metal.  In  this  case  the  plate  having  the  lead  peroxide  upon  it  cor- 
responds to  the  copper  of  an  ordinary  cell,  and  the  unchanged  lead 


FiK.   18.     Cells  Con- 
nected in  Parallel 


231 


20 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Fig.  19. 


Magnetic  Prop- 
erties of  a  Loop 


plate  to  the  zinc.  The  arrangement  will  furnish  a  current  until  the 
lead  peroxide  is  all  used  up.  The  only  important  difference  between 
a  commercial  storage  cell  and  the  two  lead  plates  just  considered,  is 
that  the  former  is  provided  in  the  process  of 
manufacture  with  a  very  much  thicker  coat  of 
the  active  material — lead  peroxide  on  the  posi- 
tive plate,  and  a  porous,  spongy  lead  on  the 
negative — than  can  be  formed  by  a  single 
charging  such  as  we  considered.  In  one  type 
of  storage  cell  this  active  material  is  actually 
formed  by  the  repeated  charging  and  discharg- 
ing of  plates  which  are  originally  ordinary 
sheets  of  lead.  With  each  new  charging  a 
slightly  thicker  layer  of  the  lead  peroxide  is 
formed.  In  the  more  common  type  of  commer- 
cial cell  the  active  material  is  pressed  into 
interstices  of  the  plate  in  the  form  of  a  paste. 
It  will  be  seen  from  this  discussion  that  a  storage 
battery  is  not,  properly  speaking,  a  device  for 
storing  electricity.  It  is  rather  a  device  in  which  the  electrical  cur- 
rent produces  chemical  changes,  and  these  new  chemicals,  so  long  as 
they  last,  are  capable  of  generating  a  new  electrical  current. 

ELECTROMAGNETISM 

Magnetic  Properties  of  a  Loop.  We  have  seen  that  an  elec- 
trical current  is  surrounded  by  a  magnetic  field  the  direction  of  which 
is  given  by  the  right-hand  rule.  We  have 
seen  also  that  a  loop  or  coil  of  wire 
through  which  a  current  flows  produces  a 
magnetic  field  of  the  shape  shown  in  Fig. 
7.  Now,  if  such  a  loop  is  suspended  in 
the  manner  shown  in  Fig.  19  while  a 
current  is  passed  through  it,  it  is  found 
to  slowly  set  itself  in  an  east-and-west 
plane,  and  so  that  the  face  of  the  loop  from 
which  the  magnetic  lines  emerge,  Fig.  20, 
is  toward  the  north.  In  other  words,  the 
loop  will  be  found  to  behave  with  respect 


Fig    20. 


Magnetic  Properties 
of  a  Loop 


232 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


21 


to  the  earth  or  to  any  other  magnet  precisely  as  though  it  were  a 
flat  magnetic  disk  whose  boundary  is  the  wire,  the  face  which  turns 
toward  the  north,  that  is,  that  from  which  the  magnetic  lines  emerge, 
being  an  N  pole  and  the  other  an  S  pole. 

Magnetic  Properties  of  a  Helix.     If  a  wire  carrying  a  current  be 
wound  in  the  form  of  a  helix  and  held  near  a  suspended  magnet 


Fig.  21.     Magnetic  Properties  of  a  Helix 

as  in  Fig.  21,  the  coil  will  be  found  to  act  in  every  respect  like  a  mag- 
net, with  an  N  pole  at  one  end  and  an  <S  pole  at  the  other. 

This  result  might  have  been  predicted  from  the  fact  that  a  single 
loop  is  equivalent  to  a  flat-disk  magnet.  For  when  a  series  of  such 
disks  is  placed  side  by  side,  as  in  the  helix,  the  result  must  be  the 


Direction 

of  magnetic    N 

force 


Fig.  23.     Right-Hand  Rule  for  a  Helix 


Fig.  22.     Magnetic  Field 
About  a  Holix 


same  .'is  placing  a  series  of  disk  magnets  in  a  row,  the  N  pole  of  one 
being  directly  in  contact  with  the  S  pole  of  the  next,  etc.  These  poles 
would,  therefore,  all  neutralize  each  other  except  at  the  two  ends.  We, 
therefore,  get  a  magnetic  field  of  the  shape  shown  in  Fig.  22,  the 
direction  of  the  arrows  representing  as  usual  the  direction  in  which 
an  N  pole  tends  to  move. 

Rules  for  North  and  South  Poles  of  a  Helix.    The  right-hand 


233 


22 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Fig.  24 

magnet  and  Its  Field 


A  Simple  Electro- 
Its 


rule  as  already  given  is  sufficient  in  every  case  to  determine  which 
is  the  N  and  which  the  <S  pole  of  a  helix,  i.  e.,  from  which  end  the 
lines  of  magnetic  force  emerge  from  the 
helix  and  at  which  end  they  enter  it.  But 
it  is  found  convenient,  in  the  consideration 
of  coils,  to  restate  the  right-hand  rule  in  a 
slightly  different  way,  Fig.  23,  thus : 

//  the  coil  is  grasped  in  the  right  hand 
in  such  a  way  that  the  fingers  point  in  the 
direction  in  which  the  current  is  flowing  in 
the  wires,  the  thumb  will  point  in  the  direction  of  the  north  pole  of  the 
helix. 

Similarly,  if  the  sign  of  the  poles  is  known,  but  the  direction  of 
the  current  unknown,  the  latter  may  be  determined  as  follows: 

If  the  right  hand  is  placed  against  the  coil  with  the  thumb  pointing 
in  the  direction  of  the  lines  of  force,  i.  e.,  toward  the  north  pole  of  the 
helix,  the  fingers  will  pass  around  the  coil  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  current  is  flowing. 

Electromagnet.     If  a  core  of  soft  iron  be  inserted  in  the  helix, 
Fig.  24,  the  poles  will  be  found  to  be  enormously  stronger  than  before. 
This  is  because  the  core  is  magnet- 
ized by  induction  from  the  field  of          i — ^^.---------^C^ — I 


Fig.  25.     Horseshoe  Electromagnet 
with  Armature 


A 


Fig.  26.     Field  of  Horseshoe 
Electromagnet 


the  helix  in  precisely  the  same  way  in  which  it  would  be  magnetized 
by  induction  if  placed  in  the  field  of  a  permanent  magnet.  The  new 
field  strength  about  the  coil  is  now  the  sum  of  the  fields  due  to  the 
core  and  that  due  to  the  coil.  If  the  current  is  broken,  the  core  will  at 
once  lose  the  greater  part  of  its  magnetism.  If  the  current  is  re- 


234 


SCENE  FROM  "POEMS  IN  PICTURES,"  BY  GAUMONT 

A  Series  of  Imaginative  Conceptions  Which  Deeply  Impressed  the  Artistic  Element  of  the  Country 
Courtesy  of  the  Kleine  Optical  Co.,  Chicago 


P 


i 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


23 


versed,  the  polarity  of  the  core  will  be  reversed.     Such  a  coil  with  a 
soft-iron  core  is  called  an  electromagnet. 

The  strength  of  an  electromagnet  can  be  very  greatly  increased 
by  giving  it  such  form  that  the  magnetic  lines  can  remain  in  iron 
throughout  their  entire  length  instead  of  emerging  into  air,  as  they 
do  in  Fig.  24.  For  this  reason  electromagnets  are  usually  built  in 
the  horseshoe  form  and  provided  with  an  armature  A,  Fig.  25, 
through  which  a  complete  iron  path  for  the  lines  of  force  is  estab- 
lished as  shown  in  Fig.  26.  The  strength  of  such  a  magnet  depends 


Fig.  27.     Simple  Electric  Bell  and  Connections 

chiefly  upon  the  number  of  ampere-turn  a  which  encircle  it,  the  ex- 
pression ampere-turns  denoting  the  product  of  the  number  of  turns  of 
wire  about  the  magnet  by  the  number  of  amperes  flowing  in  each 
turn.  Thus  a  current  of  y^  ampere  flowing  1,000  times  around 
a  core  will  make  an  electromagnet  of  precisely  the  same  strength  as 
a  current  of  1  ampere  flowing  10  times  about  the  core. 

Electric  Bell.  The  electric  bell,  Fig.  27,  is  one  of  the  simplest 
applications  of  the  electromagnet.  When  the  button  P  is  pressed,  the 
electric  circuit  of  the  battery  is  closed  and  a  current  flows  in  at  A, 
through  the  magnet,  over  the  dosed  contact  C,  and  out  again  at  B. 
But  no  sooner  is  this  current  established  than  the  electromagnet  E 
pulls  over  the  armature  a,  and  in  so  doing  breaks  the  contact  at  C. 


235 


24  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

This  stops  the  current  and  demagnetizes  the  magnet  E.  The  arm- 
ature is  then  thrown  back  against  C  by  the  elasticity  of  the  spring  s 
which  supports  it.  No  sooner  is  the  contact  made  at  C  than  the 
current  again  begins  to  flow  and  the  former  operation  is  repeated. 
Thus  the  circuit  is  automatically  made  and  broken  at  C  and  the 
hammer  H  is,  in  consequence,  set  into  rapid  vibration  against  the 
rim  of  the  bell. 

LAWS  OF  CURRENT  FLOW 
RESISTANCE 

All  substances  resist  the  passage  of  electricity,  but  the  resist- 
ance offered  by  some  is  very  much  greater  than  that  offered  by 
others.  Metals  have  by  far  the  least  resistance  and,  of  these,  silver 
possesses  the  least  of  any.  In  other  words,  silver  is  the  best  conduc- 
tor. If  the  temperature  remains  the  same,  the  resistance  of  a  conduc- 
tor is  not  affected  by  the  current  passing  through  it.  A  .current  of 
ten,  twenty,  or  any  number  of  amperes  may  pass  through  a  circuit, 
but  its  resistance  will  be  unchanged  with  constant  temperature.  Re- 
sistance is  affected  by  the  temperature  and  also  by  the  degree  of 
hardness.  Annealing  decreases  the  resistance  of  a  metal. 

Conductance,  Conductance  is  the  inverse  of  resistance,  that  is, 
if  a  conductor  has  a  resistance  of  R  ohms,  its  conductance  is  equal 

to  A. 
R 

Resistance  Proportional  to  Length.  The  resistance  of  a  con- 
ductor is  directly  proportional  to  its  length.  Hence,  if  the  length  of 
a  conductor  is  doubled,  the  resistance  is  doubled,  or  if  the  length  is 
divided,  say  into  three  equal  parts,  then  the  resistance  of  each  part 
is  one-third  the  total  resistance. 

EXAMPLE.  The  resistance  of  1,283  feet  of  a  certain  wire  is  G.9  ohms. 
What  is  the  resistance  of  142  feet  of  the  same  wire? 

Solution.  As  the  resistance  is  directly  proportional  to  the  length  we 
have  the  proportion 

required  resistance  :  6.9  :  :  142  :  1283 

required  resistance  142 

or 

6.9  1283 

142 

Hence,  required  resistance  =  6.9  X 

1283 

=  .76  ohm  (approx.) 

Ans.  .76  ohm. 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  25 

EXAMPLE.  The  resistance  of  a  wire  having  a  length  of  521  feet  is  .11 
ohm.  What  length  of  the  same  wire  will  have  a  resistance  of  .18  ohm? 

Solution.  As  the  resistance  is  proportional  to  length,  we  have  the  pro- 
portion 

required  length  :  521  :  :  .18  :  .11 
required  length        .18 

— w~     =  01 

Hence,  required  length   =   521  X  — 

=  852  feet  (approx.) 

Ans.  852  feet. 

Resistance  Inversely  Proportional  to  Cross=Section.  The  re- 
sistance of  a  conductor  is  inversely  proportional  to  its  cross-sec- 
tional area.  Hence  the  greater  the  cross-section  of  a  wire  the  less 
is  its  resistance.  Therefore,  if  two  wires  have  the  same  length, 
but  one  has  a  cross-section  three  times  that  of  the  other,  the  resist- 
ance of  the  former  is  one-third  that  of  the  latter. 

EXAMPLE.  The  ratio  of  the  cross-sectional  area  of  one  wire  to  that  of 
another  of  the  same  length  and  material  is —  •  The  resistance  of  the  former 

is  16.3  ohms.    What  is  the  resistance  of  the  latter? 

Solution.  As  the  resistances  are  inversely  proportional  to  the  cross- 
sections,  the  smaller  wire  has  the  greater  resistance,  and  we  have  the  proportion 

required  resistance  :  16.3  :  :  257  :  101 

required  resistance       257 
or, 

16.3  101 

257 
Hence,  required  resistance  =  16.3  X  — 

=  41. 5  ohms  (approx.) 

Ans.  41.5  ohms. 

EXAMPLE.  If  the  resistance  of  a  wire  of  a  certain  length  and  having  a 
cross-sectional  area  of  .0083  square  inch  is  1.7  ohms,  what  would  be  its  resist- 
ance if  the  area  of  its  cross-section  were  .092  square  inch? 

Solution.  Since  increasing  the  cross-sectional  area  of  a  wire  decreases 
its  resistance,  we  have  the  proportion 

required  resistance  :  1 .7  :  :  .0083  :  .092 
required  resistance          .0083 


1.7  .092 

Hence,  required  resistance  =  1.7  X 


.092 
=  .15  ohm  (approx.) 

Ans.  .15  ohm. 


237 


26  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

As  the  area  of  a  circle  is  proportional  to  the  square  of  its  diam- 
eter, it  follows  that  the  resistance  of  round  conductors  are  inversely 
proportional  to  the  squares  of  their  diameters. 

EXAMPLE.  The  resistance  of  a  certain  wire  having  a  diameter  of  .1 
inch  is  12.6  ohms.  What  would  be  its  resistance  if  the  diameter  were  increased 
to  .32  inch? 

Solution.  The  resistances  being  inversely  proportional  to  the  squares 
of  the  diameters,  we  have 

required  resistance  :  12.G  :  :  .I2  :  .322 
required  resistance         .I2 
°r>  12.6  =  !322 

.I2 

Hence,  required  resistance  =  12. 6  X  — 2 

.32 

_  12.6  X  .01 

.1024 
=  1.23  ohms  (approx.) 

Ans.  1.23  ohms. 

Specific  Resistance.  The  specific  resistance  of  a  substance 
is  the  resistance  of  a  portion  of  that  substance  of  unit  length  and 
unit  cross-section  at  a  standard  temperature.  The  units  commonly 
used  are  the  centimeter  of  the  inch,  and  the  temperature  that  of 
melting  ice.  The  specific  resistance  may  therefore  be  said  to  be 
the  resistance  (usually  stated  in  microhms)  of  a  centimeter  cube  or 
of  an  inch  cube  at  the  temperature  of  melting  ice.  If  the  specific 
resistances  of  two  substances  are  known,  then  their  relative  resistance 
is  given  by  the  ratio  of  the  specific  resistances. 

Conductivity.  Conductivity  is  the  reciprocal  of  specific  resist- 
ance. 

EXAMPLE.  A  certain  copper  wire  at  the  temperature  of  melting  ice 
has  a  resistance  of  29.7  ohms.  Its  specific  resistance— resistance  of  1  centi- 
meter cube  in  microhms — is  1.594,  and  that  of  platinum  is  9.032.  What  would 
be  the  resistance  of  a  platinum  wire  of  the  same  size  and  length  of  the  copper 
wire,  and  at  the  same  temperature? 

Solution.  The  resistance  would  be  in  direct  ratio  of  the  specific  resist- 
ances, and  we  have  the  proportion 

required  resistance  :  29.7  :  :  9.032  :  1.594 

Hence,  required  resistance  =  29.7  X 

1 .594 

=  168  ohms  (approx.) 

Ans.  168  ohms. 


238 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  27 

Calculation  of  Resistance.  From  the  preceding  pages  it  is 
evident  that  resistance  varies  directly  as  the  length,  inversely  as 
the  cross-sectional  area,  arid  depends  upon  the  specific  resistance 
of  the  material.  This  may  be  expressed  conveniently  by  the  for- 
mula 


in  which  R  is  the  resistance,  L  the  length  of  the  conductor,  A 
the  area  of  its  cross-section,  and  *  the  specific  resistance  of  the  ma- 
terial. 

EXAMPLE.  A  telegraph  relay  is  wound  with  1,800  feet  of  wire  .010 
inch  in  diameter,  and  has  a  resistance  of  150  ohms.  What  will  be  its  resist- 
ance if  wound  with  40  feet  of  wire  .022  inch  in  diameter? 

Solution.  If  the  wires  were  of  equal  length,  we  should  have  the  pro- 
portion 

required  resistance:  150  :  :  (.010)2  :  (.022)2 

or,  required  resistance  =  150  X  —  -  -2  =  30.99  +  ohms 

For  a  wire  400  feet  long,  we  have,  therefore,  by  direct  proportion, 

400 
required  resistance  =  —  -  X  30.99  =  6.88  + 

Ans.  6.88  +  ohms. 

If  a  circuit  is  made  up  of  several  different  materials  joined  in 
series  with  each  other,  the  resistance  of  the  circuit  is  equal  to  the 
sum  of  the  resistances  of  its  several  parts.  In  calculating  the  re- 
sistance of  such  a  circuit,  the  resistance  of  each  part  should  first 
be  calculated,  and  the  sum  of  these  resistances  will  be  the  total  re- 
sistance of  the  circuit. 

In  Table  I  is  given  the  resistance  of  chemically  pure  substances 
at  0°  centigrade  or  32°  Fahrenheit  in  International  ohms.  The  first 
column  of  numbers  gives  the  relative  resistances  when  that  cf  an- 
nealed silver  is  taken  as  unity.  For  example,  mercury  has  62.73 
times  the  resistance  of  annealed  silver.  The  second  and  third  col- 
umns give  the  resistances  of  a  foot  of  wire  .001  inch  in  diameter,  and 
of  a  meter  of  wire  1  millimeter  in  diameter,  respectively.  The 
fourth  and  fifth  columns  give  respectively  the  resistance  in  mi- 
crohms of  a  cubic  inch  and  cubic  centimeter,  that  is,  the  specific  re- 
sistances. 


28 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


TABLE  I 

Relative   Resistance  of  Chemically   Pure  Substances  at  32°  F.  Inter- 
national Ohms 


Metals 

Relative 
Resist- 
ance 

Resistance 
of  a  wire 
1  foot  long 
.001  in.  in 
diameter 

Resistance 
of  a  vrire 
1  m.  long 
1  mm.  in 
diameter 

Resistance  in 
Microhms 

Cubic 
Inch 

Cubic  Cen- 
timeter 

Silver,  annealed 

1.000 

9.023 

.01911 

.5904 

1.500 

Copper,  annealed 

1.063 

9.585 

.02028 

.6274 

1.594 

Silver,  hard  drawn 

1.086 

9.S02 

.02074 

.6415 

1.629 

Copper,  hard  drawn 

1.086 

9.803 

.02075 

.6415 

1.629 

Gold,  annealed 

1.369 

12.35 

.02613 

.8079 

2.052 

Gold,  hard  drawn 

1.393 

12.56 

.02661 

.8224 

2.088 

Aluminum,  annealed 

1.935 

17.48 

.03700 

1.144 

2.904 

Zinc,  pressed 

3.741 

33.76 

.07143 

2.209 

5.610 

Platinum,  annealed 

6.022 

54.34 

.1150 

3.555 

9.032 

Iron,  annealed 

6.460 

58;29 

.1234 

3.814 

9.689 

Lead,  pressed 

13.05 

117.7 

.2491 

7.706 

19.58 

German  silver 

13.92 

125.5 

.2659 

8.217 

20.87 

Platinum-silver  alloy 

(J  platinum,  f  silver) 

16.21 

146.3 

.3097 

9.576 

24.32 

Mercury 

62.73 

570.7 

1.208 

37.05 

94.06 

A  very  small  portion  of  foreign  matter  mixed  with  a  metal 
greatly  increases  its  resistance.  An  alloy  of  two  or  more  metals 
always  has  a  higher  specific  resistance  than  that  of  any  of  its 
constituents.  For  example,  the  conductivity  of  silver  mixed  with 
1.2  per  cent  in  volume  of  gold,  will  be  59  when  that  of  pure 
silver  is  taken  as  100.  Annealing  reduces  the  resistance  of 
metals. 

The  following  examples  are  given  to  illustrate  the  use  of  Table 

I  in  connection  with  the  formula  R  =  s  — -  and  to  show  the  appli- 

A 

cation  of  preceding  laws. 

EXAMPLE.  From  the  specific  resistance  of  annealed  aluminum  as  given 
in  the  next  to  the  last  column  of  the  table,  calculate  the  resistance  given  in  the 
second  column  of  figures  for  that  substance. 

Solution.  The  resistance  in  microhms  of  a  cubic  inch  of  annealed  alumi- 
num at  32°  F.  is  1.144,  which  is  equal  to  .000001144  ohms.  The  resistance  of 
a  wire  1  foot  long  and  .001  inch  in  diameter  is  required.  According  to  the 
formula  s  =  .000001144,  L  =  1  foot  =  12  inches  and 

rd2        3.1416  X  .0012 
T~  4 


A  = 


=  .0000007854  sq.  in. 


240 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  29 

Substituting  these  values  in  the  formula 


we  have 

12 


R  =  .000001144  X 


.0000007854 
=  17.48  ohms  Ans.  17.48  ohms. 

EXAMPLE.  The  resistance  in  microhms  of  a  cubic  centimeter  of  annealed 
platinum  at  32°  F.  is  9.032.  What  is  the  resistance  of  a  wire  of  the  same 
substance  one  meter  long  and  one  millimeter  in  diameter  at  the  same  temper- 
ature? 

Solution.  In  the  formula  for  resistance  we  have  the  quantities  s  = 
9.032  microhms  =  .000009032  ohms;  L  =  1  meter  =  100  centimeters;  and 

7T'/2     3.1416  X  .I2 
A  =  —  =  =  .007854  sq.  cm. 

the  diameter  being  equal  to  1  millimeter  =  .1  cm. 
Substituting  these  values  we  have 

R  =  .000009032  X 

.007854 

=  .115  ohm  Ans.  .115  ohm. 

EXAMPLE.  From  Table  I  the  resistance  of  1  foot  of  pure  annealed  silver 
wire  .001  inch  in  diameter  at  32°  F.  is  9.023  ohms.  What  is  the  resistance  of 
a  mile  of  wire  of  the  same  substance  .1  inch  in  diameter  at  that  temperature? 

Solution.  As  the  resistance  of  wires  is  directly  proportional  to  their 
length  and  inversely  proportional  to  the  squares  of  their  diameters,  the  re- 
quired resistance  is  found  by  multiplying  the  resistance  per  foot  by  5,280  and 
the  product  by  the  inverse  squares  of  the  diameters. 

i   001    )  2 
Therefore,  R  =  9.023  X  5280  X  j  ' f 

=  4.76  ohms  (approx.) 

Ans.  4.76  ohms. 

EXAMPLE.  A  mile  and  one-half  of  an  annealed  wire  of  pure  iron  has  a 
resistance  of  46.1  ohms.  What  would  be  the  resistance  of  hard-drawn  wire 
of^  pure  copper  of  the  same  length  and  diameter,  assuming  each  to  be  at  the 
temperature  of  melting  ice? 

Solution.  The  only  factor  involved  by  this  example  is  the  relative  resist- 
ance of  the  two  metals.  From  Table  I,  annealed  iron  has  6.460  and  hard- 
drawn  copper  1 .086  times  the  resistance  of  annealed  silver.  Hence,  the  resist- 
ance of  the  copper  is  to  that  of  the  iron  as  1.086  is  to  6.460,  and  the  required 
resistance  is 


R  =  46.1  X  ,         =  7.75  ohms  (approx.) 


241 


Ans.  7.75  ohms. 


30  'THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

EXAMPLE.  If  the  resistance  of  a  wire  7,423  feet  long  is  18.7  ohms,  what 
would  be  its  resistance  if  its  length  were  reduced  to  6,253  feet  and  its  cross- 
section  made  one  half  again  as  large? . 

Solution.  As  resistance  is  directly  proportional  to  the  length,  and  in- 
versely proportional  to  the  area  of  the  cross-section,  the  required  resistance  is 

6253         2 

R  =  18.7  X X  —  =  10.5  ohms  (approx.) 

7423          3 

Ans.  10.5  ohms. 

Resistance  Affected  by  Heating.  The  resistance  of  metals 
depends  upon  the  temperature,  and  the  resistance  is  increased  by 
heating.  The  heating  of  some  substances,  among  which  is  carbon, 
causes  a  decrease  in  their  resistance.  The  resistance  of  the  fila- 
ment of  an  incandescent  lamp  when  lighted  is  only  about  half  as 
great  as  when  cold.  All  metals,  however,  have  their  resistance  in- 
creased by  a  rise  in  temperature.  The  percentage  increase  in  resist- 
ance with  rise  of  temperature  varies  with  the  different  metals,  and 
varies  slightly  for  the  same  metal  at  different  temperatures.  The 
increase  is  practically  uniform  for  most  metals  throughout  a  con- 
siderable range  of  temperature.  The  resistance  of  copper  increases 
about  .4  per  cent  per  degree  centigrade,  or  about  .22  per  cent  degree 
Fahrenheit.  The  percentage  increase  in  resistance  for  alloys  is  much 
less  than  for  the  simple  metals.  Standard  resistance  coils  are,  there- 
fore, made  of  alloys,  as  it  is  desirable  that  their  resistance  should 
be  as  nearly  constant  as  possible. 

The  change  in  resistance  of  one  ohm  per  degree  rise  in  tem- 
perature for  a  substance  is  called  the  temperature  coefficient  for  that 
substance.  Table  II  gives  the  temperature  coefficients  for  a  few 
substances. 

If  the  resistance  of  a  conductor  at  a  certain  temperature  is  known, 
the  resistance  the  conductor  will  have  at  a  higher  temperature  may 
be  found  by  multiplying  the  temperature  coefficient  for  the  sub- 
stance, by  the  number  of  degrees  increase  and  by  the  resistance  at 
the  lower  temperature,  and  adding  to  this  result  the  resistance  at 
the  lower  temperature.  The  product  of  the  temperature  coefficient 
by  the  number  of  degrees  increase  gives  the  increase  in  resistance 
of  one  ohm  through  that  number  of  degrees,  and  multiplying  this 
by  the  number  of  ohms  gives  the  increase  in  resistance  for  the  conduc- 
tor. The  result  obtained  is  practically  correct  for  moderate  ranges 
of  temperature. 


242 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


31 


TABLE  II 
Temperature  Coefficients 


RISE  IN  R.  OF  1  OHM  WHEN  HEATED 

1°F. 

1°C. 

Platinoid 

.00012 

.00022 

Platinum-silver 

.00014 

.00025 

German  silver 

.00022 

.00040 

Platinum 

.0019 

.0035 

Silver 

.0021 

.0038 

Copper,  aluminum 

.0022 

.0040 

Iron 

.0026 

.0046 

The  above  method  of  calculating  the  resistance  of  conductors 
at  increased  temperature  is  conveniently  expressed  by  the  follow- 
ing formula 

R2  =  Rl(l  +  at) 

where  R2  is  the  resistance  at  the  higher  temperature,  Rl  that  at 
the  lower  temperature,  a  the  temperature  coefficient  for  the  sub- 
stance, and  /  the  number  of  degrees  change. 

From  the  preceding  formula  it  follows  that  if  the  resistance 
at  the  higher  temperature  is  known,  that  at  the  lower  temperature 
will  be  given  by  the  formula 


R.= 


1  +at 


In  calculating  resistances  at  different  temperatures,  the  tem- 
perature coefficient  based  on  the  Fahrenheit  scale  should  be  used 
if  the  number  of  degrees  change  is  given  in  degrees  Fahrenheit, 
and  that  based  on  the  centigrade  scale  if  given  in  degrees  centi- 
grade. 

EXAMPLE.  The  resistance  of  a  coil  of  German  silver  wire  at  12?  0.  is 
1,304  ohms.  What  would  be  its  resistance  at  a  temperature  of  60°  ( '.? 

Solution.  From  the  statement  of  the  example  /?,  =  1,304,  /  =  60  -  12 
=  48,  and  from  Table  II,  a  =  .0004.  Substituting  these  values  in  the  formula 
/?2  =  Rl  (1+ at),  we  have 

7?t  =  1304  (1  +  .0004  X  48) 
=  1304  X  1.0192 
=  1329  ohms  (approx.) 

Ans.  1329  ohms. 


243 


32 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


TABLE  III 
American  Wire  Gauge  (B.  &  S.) 


No. 

DIAMETER  IN 

Circular 

Mils 

Ohms 
per 
1000 
Ft. 

No. 

Circular 
Mils 

Ohms 
per 
1000  Ft. 

Mils 

Millim. 

Mils 

Millim. 

0000 

460.00 

11.684 

211600.0 

.051 

19 

35.89 

.912 

1288.0 

8.617 

000 

409.64 

10.405 

167805.0 

.064 

20 

31.96 

.812 

1021.5 

10.566 

00 

364.80 

9.266 

133079.4 

.081 

21 

28.46 

.723 

810.1 

13.323 

0 

324.95 

8.254 

105592.5 

.102 

22 

25.35 

.644 

642.7 

16.799 

1 

289.30 

7.348 

83694.2 

.129 

23 

22.57 

.573 

509.5 

21.185 

2 

257.63 

6.544 

66373.0 

.163 

24 

20.10 

.511 

404.0 

26.713 

3 

229.42 

5.827 

52634.0 

.205 

25 

17.90 

.455 

320.4 

33.684 

4 

204.31 

5.189 

41742.0 

.259 

26 

15.94 

.405 

254.0 

42.477 

5 

181.94 

4.621 

33102.0 

.326 

27 

14.19 

-.361 

201.5 

53.563 

6 

162.02 

4.115 

26250.5 

.411 

28 

12.64 

.321 

159.8 

67.542 

7 

144.28 

3.665 

20816.0 

.519 

29 

11.26 

.286 

126.7 

85.170 

8 

128.49 

3.264 

16509.0 

.654 

30 

10.03 

.255 

100.5 

107.391 

9 

114.43 

2.907 

13094.0 

.824 

31 

8.93 

.277 

79.7 

135.402 

10 

101.89 

2.588 

10381.0 

1.040 

32 

7.95 

.202 

63.2 

170.765 

11 

90.74 

2.305 

8234.0 

1.311 

33 

7.08 

.108 

50.1 

215.312 

12 

80.81 

2.053 

6529.9 

1.653 

34 

6.30 

.160 

39.7 

271.583 

13 

71.96 

1.828 

5178.4 

2.084 

35 

5.61 

.143 

31.5 

342.443 

14 

64.08 

1.628 

4106.8 

2.628 

36 

5.00 

.127 

25.0 

431.712 

15 

57.07 

1.450 

3256.7 

3.314 

37 

4.45 

.113 

19.8 

544.287 

16 

50.82 

1.291 

2582.9 

4.179 

38 

3.96 

.101 

15.7 

686.511 

17 

45.26 

1,150 

2048.2 

5.269 

39 

3.53 

.090 

12.5 

865.046 

18 

40.30 

1.024 

1624.1 

6.645 

40 

3.14 

.080 

9.9 

1091.865 

EXAMPLE.     If  the  resistance  of  a  copper  conductor  at  95°  F.  is  48.2 
ohms,  what  would  be  the  resistance  of  the  same  conductor  at  40°  F.  ? 

Solution.     In  this  case  R2  =  48.2,  t  =  95  -  40  =  55,  and  from  Table 

r> 

II,  a  =  .0022.    Substituting  these  values  in  the  formula  R^  =  -  — ^-  we  have 


48.2 


48.2 
1.121 


1  +  .0022  X  55 

=  43  ohms  (approx.) 

Ans.  43  ohms. 

Table  III  gives  the  resistance  of  the  most  common  sizes  of 
copper  wire  according  to  the  American  or  Brown  and  Sharpe  (B.  & 
S.)  gauge.  The  resistance  given  is  for  pure  copper  wire  at  a  tem- 
perature of  75°  F.  or  24°  C.  The  fourth  column  gives  the  equiva- 
lent number  of  wires  each  one  mil  or  one-thousandth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter.  This  is  called  the  size  of  the  wire  in  circular  mil  and 
is  equal  to  the  square  of  the  diameter  in  mils.  The  fifth  column 


244 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


33 


gives  the  ohms  per  thousand  feet  and  the  resistance  per  mile  is  found 
by  multiplying  these  values  by  5.28.  Ordinary  commercial  copper 
has  a  conductivity  of  about  95  to  97  per  cent  of  that  of  pure  copper. 
The  resistance  of  commercial  wire  is,  therefore,  about  3  to  5  per  cent 
greater  than  the  values  given  in  Table  III.  The  resistance  for  any 
metal  other*  than  copper  may  be  found  by  multiplying  the  resist- 
ance given  in  Table  III  by  the  ratio  of  the  specific  resistance  of 
the  given  metal  to  the  specific  resistance  of  copper. 

Table  IV  gives  the  size  of  the  English  or  Birmingham  wire 
gauge.  The  B.  &  S.  is,  however,  much  more  frequently  used  in  this 
country.  The  Brown  and  Sharpe  gauge  is  a  little  smaller  than  the 
Birmingham  for  corresponding  numbers. 

TABLE  IV 
Stubs'  or  Birmingham  Wire  Gauge  (B.  W.  Q.) 


DIAMETER  IN 

DIAMETER  IN 

DIAMETER  IN 

No. 

No. 

No. 

Mils 

MiLlim. 

Mils 

Millim. 

Mils 

Millim. 

0000 

454 

11.53 

8 

165 

4.19 

18 

49 

1.24 

00 

380 

9.65 

10 

134 

3.40 

20 

35 

0.89 

1 

300 

7.62 

12 

109 

2.77 

24 

22 

0.55 

4 

2.38 

6.04 

14 

83 

2.11 

30 

12 

0.31 

6 

203 

5.16 

16 

65 

1.65 

36 

4 

0.10 

EXAMPLES  FOR   PRACTICE 

1.  What  is  the  resistance  of  an  annealed  silver  wire  90  feet 
long  and  .2  inch  in  diameter  at  32°  R?  Ans.  .02+  ohm. 

2.  What  is  the  resistance  of  300  meters  of  annealed  iron  wire 
4  millimeters  in  diameter  when  at  a  temperature  of  0°  C.? 

Ans.  2.31  +  ohms. 

3.  What  is  the  resistance  of  2  miles  of  No.  27  (B.  &  S.)  pure 
copper  wire  at  75°  F.?  Ans.   565+  ohms. 

4.  The  resistance  of  a  piece  of  copper  wire  at  32°  F.  is  3  ohms. 
What  is  its  resistance  at  49°  F.V  Ans.  3.11+  ohms. 

5.  The  resistance  of  a  copper  wire  at  52°  F.  is  7  ohms.    What 
is  its  resistance  at  32°  F.?  Ans.  6.70+  ohms. 

6.  What  is  the  resistance  of  49G  ft.  of  No.  10  (B.  &  S.)  pure 
copper  wire  at  45°  F.?  Ans.  .483+  ohms. 


245 


34 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


TABLE  V 
Primary  Cells,  Electromotive  Force,  Resistance,  Etc. 


NAME 

OF 

CELL 

ANODE 

KATHODE 

EXCITANT 

DEPOLARIZER 

E.  M.  F 

IN 

VOLTS 

INTERNAL 
RESIST- 
ANCE   IN 
OHMS 

Volta 

Solution  of 

. 

(Wollas- 

Zinc 

Copper 

Sulphuric  Acid 

None 

1  to  0.5 

ton,  etc.) 

(H2SO4) 

Solution  of 

Smee 

Zinc 

Platinized 
Silver 

Sulphuric  Acid 
(H2S04) 

None 

1  to  0.5 

0.5 

Solution  of 

Law 

Zinc 

Carbon 

Sulphuric  Acid 
(H2S04) 

None 

1  to  0.5 

Poggen- 
dorff 
(Grenet) 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Solution  of 
Sulphuric  Acid 
(H2S04) 

Potassium 
Dichromate 

(K2Cr207) 

2.1 

Poggen- 
clorfl 
(Grenet) 
two  fluid 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Saturated  Solu- 
tion of  Potas- 
sium Bichro- 
mate and 
Sulphuric  Acid 

None 
Separate 

1.98 

.001  to  .08 

Grove 

Zinc 

Platinum 

Sulphuric  Acid 
dilute  (H2SO4) 

Nitric  Acid 

(HNO3) 

1.96 

0.1  to  0.12 

Bunsen 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Sulphuric  Acid 
dilute  (H2SO4) 

Nitric  Acid 

l.StOl.98 

O.ORtoO.ll 

Chromic  Acid 

1.8 

0.1  to  0.12 

Leclanch6 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Ammonium 
Chloride 

(NH4C1) 

Manganese 
Dioxide 

(Mn02) 

1.4  to  l.C 

1.13  to  1.15 

Lalande 
Lalande- 
Chaperon 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Caustic  Potash 
or  Potassium 
Hydrate  (KOH) 

Cupric  Oxide 

0.8  to  0.9 

1.3 

Upward 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Zinc  Chloride 
(ZnCl2) 

Chlorine  (Cl) 

2.0 

Sodium&Potas- 

Fitch 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Ammonium 
Chloride 
(NH4C1) 

sium  Chlorates 
(NaC103+ 
KC103) 

1.1 

Papst 

Iron 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Ferric  Chloride 

(Fe2Cle) 

[(Fe2Cl  ) 

0.4 

Ammonium 

Chloride 

Manganese 

Obach 

(dry) 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

(NH4C1)  in 
Calcium  Sul- 

Dioxide 
(MnO2) 

1.4G 

phate  (CaSO4) 

• 

Daniell 
(Meidin- 
ger  Min- 

Zinc 

Copper 

Zinc  Sulphate 
(ZnS04) 

Copper  Sul- 
phate (CuSO4) 

1.079 

2  to  5 

otto,  etc.) 

De  la  Rue 

Zinc 

Silver 

Ammonium 
Chloride 

Silver  Chloride 

(AgCl) 

1.03  to 
1.42 

0.4  to  0.6 

Marie 
Davy 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Sulphuric  Acid 
dilute  (H2S04) 

Paste  of  Sul- 
phate of  Mercury 
(Hg2S04) 

1  52 

0.75101 

Clark 
(Standard) 

Zinc 

Mercury 

Zinc  Sulphate 
(ZnSo4) 

Mercurous  Sul- 
phate(Hg2SO4) 

1.434* 

0.3  to  0.5 

Weston 

Cadmium 

Mercury 

Cadmium  Sul- 
phate (CdSO^) 

Mercurous  Sul- 

hate(HgjjS04) 

1.025 

*At  15  degrees  centigrade  or  59  degrees  Fahrenheit. 


246 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 

TABLE  V  (Continued) 


35 


NAME 

OF 

CELL 

A  NODE 

KATHODE 

EXCITANT 

DEPOLARIZER 

E.  M.  F. 

IN 

VOLTS 

INTERNAL 
RESIST- 
ANCE IN 
OHMS 

Von 
Helmholtz 

Zinc 

Mercury 

Zinc  Chloride 
(ZnCl2) 

Mercurous 
Chloride 
(Hg2Cl2) 

1.0 

Chromic 
Acid 
single 
fluid 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Sulphuric  and 
Chromic  Acids, 
dilute  mixed 

None 
Separate 

2.2 

.016  to  .08 

Fuller 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Sulphuric  Acid 
(H2S04) 

Potassium 
Dichromate 
(K2Cr207) 

2.0 

0.5  to  0.7 

Gaiffe 

Zinc 

Silver 

Zinc  Chloride 
(ZnCl2) 

Silver  Chloride 
(AgCl) 

1.02 

0.5  to  0.6 

Maiche 

Zinc 

scraps  in 
bath  of 
Mercury 

Platinized 
Carlxm 

Common  Salt 
Solution  i.  e. 
Sodium  Chlo- 
ride (NaCl) 

None 
Separate 

1.25 

1  to  2 

Niaudet 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Common  Salt 
Solution  t.  e. 
Sodium  Chlo- 
ride (NaCl) 

Chloride  of 
Calcium 
(Lime) 
(CaCl2) 

1.0  to  1.6 

5  to  6 

Schans- 
chieff 

Zinc 

Graphite 
(Carbon) 

Mercurial 
Solution 

None 
Separate 

1.56 

0.05to0.75 

Skrivan- 
off 

Zinc 

Silver 

Caustic  Potash 
or  Potassium 
Hy«lrato(KOH> 

Chloride  of 
Silver 

(AgCl) 

1.5 

1.5 

Resistances  in  last  column  measured  in  cells  standing  6"  X  4" 

Table  V  discloses  among  other  data  the  resistance  of  various 
primary  cells.  The  resistance  of  a  circuit  of  which  a  battery  forms 
a  part  is  made  up  of  the  external  resistance,  or  the  resistance  of  out- 
side wires  and  connections,  and  the  internal  resistance,  or  the  resist- 
ance of  the  battery  itself.  The  terms  anode  and  kathode  appearing 
in  the  second  and  third  columns,  are  commonly  used  with  reference 
to  electrolysis  but  may  also  be  applied  to  primary  cells.  The  current 
passes  from  the  anode  to  the  kathode  through  the  cell  and,  therefore, 
with  reference  to  the  cell  itself,  the  anode  may  be  considered  the  posi- 
tive element  and  the  kathode  the  negative  element.  In  regard  to  the 
outside  circuit,  however,  the  current  passes,  of  course,  from  the  kath- 
ode to  the  anode,  and  hence  with  reference  to  the  outside  circuit  the 
kathode  is  positive  and  the  anode  negative;  ordinarily,  the  external 
circuit  is  considered.  As  the  anode  of  almost  all  primary  cells  is 
zinc  it  may  readily  be  remembered  that  the  current  passes  from  the 
other  element  to  the  zinc  through  the  external  circuit. 


247 


36  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

APPLICATIONS  OF  OHM'S  LAW 

Ohm's  law  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  most  used  laws  of 
electricity. 

Current  is  directly  proportional  to  the  electromotive  force  and 
inversely  proportional  to  the  resistance. 

That  is,  if  the  electromotive  force  applied  to  a  circuit  is  increased, 
the  current  will  be  increased  in  the  same  proportion,  and  if  the 
resistance  of  a  circuit  is  increased,  then  the  current  will  be  decreased 
proportionally.  Likewise  a  decrease  in  the  electromotive  force  causes 
a  proportional  decrease  in  current,  and  a  decrease  in  resistance  causes 
a  proportional  increase  in  current.  The  current  depends  only  upon 
the  electromotive  force  and  resistance  and  in  the  manner  expressed 
by  the  above  simple  law.  The  law  may  be  expressed  algebraically 
as  follows 

electromotive  force 
current  a   _ 

resistance 

The  units  of  these  quantities,  the  ampere,  volt,  and  ohm,  have 
been  so  chosen  that  an  electromotive  force  of  1  volt  applied  to  a 
resistance  of  1  ohm,  causes  1  ampere  of  current  to  flow.  Ohm's 
law  may,  therefore,  be  expressed  by  the  equation 

c-E 

~~R 

where  C  is  the  current  in  amperes,  E  the  electromotive  force  in  volts, 
and  R  the  resistance  in  ohms. 

It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  if  the  electromotive  force  and  re- 
sistance are  known  the  current  may  be  found,  or  if  any  two  of  the 
three  quantities  are  known  the  third  may  be  found.  If  the  current 
and  resistance  are  known  the  electromotive  force  may  be  found  from 
the  formula 

E=  RC 

and  if  the  current  and  electromotive  force  are  known,  the  resist- 
ance may  be  found  from  the  formula 


Simple    Applications.    The    following    examples    are    given    to 
illustrate  the  simplest  applications  of  Ohm's  law: 


248 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  37 

EXAMPLE.  If  the  e.  m.  f.  applied  to  a  circuit  is  4  volts  and  its  resist- 
ance is  2  ohms,  what  current  will  flow? 

Solution.     By  the  formula  for  current 

E        4 

C  =  = =  2  amperes 

R         2 

Ans.  2  amperes. 

EXAMPLE.  What  voltage  is  necessary  to  cause  a  current  of  23  amperes  to 
flow  through  a  resistance  of  820  ohms? 

Solution.     By  the  formula  for  e.  m.  f., 

E  =  RC  =  820  X  23  =  18,860  volts. 

Ans.  18,360  volts. 

EXAMPLE.     The  e.  m.  f.  applied  to  a  circuit  is  110  volts,  and  it  is  desired 
to  obtain  a  current  of  .6  ampere.    What  should  be  the  resistance  of  the  circuit? 
Solution.     By  the  formula  for  resistance 

R  =  —  = =  183.  +  ohms. 

C        .6 

Ans.  183+  ohms. 

Series  Circuits.  A  circuit  made  up  of  several  parts  all  joined 
in  series  with  each  other,  is  called  a  series  circuit  and  the  resistance  of 
the  entire  circuit  is,  of  course,  the  sum  of  the  separate  resistances.  In 
calculating  the  current  in  such  a  circuit  the  total  resistance  must  first 
be  obtained,  and  the  current  may  then  be  found  by  dividing  the 
applied  or  total  e.  m.  f.  by  the  total  resistance.  This  is  expressed  by 
the  formula 

~  ^  +  R2  +  R3  +  etc. 

EXAMPLE.  Three  resistance  coils  are  connected  in  series  with  each 
other  and  have  a  resistance  of  8,  4  and  17  ohms  respectively.  What  current 
will  flow  if  the  e.  m.  f.  of  the  circuit  is  54  volts? 

Solution.     By   the  preceding  formula 

E  54  54 

=   /ei  +  «3-f*T    8  +  4  +  17=^= 

Ans.  1.8+  amperes. 

EXAMPLE.  Six  arc  lamps,  each  having  a  resistance  of  5  ohms,  are  con- 
nected in  series  with  each  other  and  the  resistance  of  the  connecting  wires 
and  other  apparatus  is  3.7  ohms.  What  must  be  the  pressure  of  the  circuit 
to  give  a  desired  current  of  9.6  amperes? 

Solution.  The  total  resistance  of  the  circuit  is  R  =  (6  X  5)  +  3.7  = 
33.7  ohms  and  the  current  is  to  be  C  =  9.6  amperes.  Hence,  by  the  formula 
for  e.  m.  f., 

E  =  R  C  =  33.7  X  9.6  =  323.  +  volts. 

Ans.  323  +  volts. 


249 


38  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

EXAMPLE.  The  current  passing  in  a  certain  circuit  was  12  amperes  and 
the  e.  m.  f .  was  743  volts.  The  circuit  was  made  up  of  4  sections  all  connected 
in  series,  and  the  resistance  of  three  sections  was  16,  9,  and  26  ohms,  respect- 
ively. What  was  the  resistance  of  the  fourth  section? 

Solution.  Let  x  =  the  resistance  of  the  fourth  section,  then  R  =  16 
+  9  +  26  +  x  =  51  +  x,  C  =  12,  and  E  =  743.  By  the  formula  for  resistance 

W  74-^ 

R  —  ——  or,  51  +  x  = =  61.9  ohms  (approx.) 

C  12 

If  51  +  x  =  61.9  we  have,  by  transposing  51  to  the  other  side  of  the 
equation 

x  =  61.9  -  51  =  10.9  ohms 

Ans.  10.9  ohms. 

EXAMPLE.  A  current  of  54  amperes  flowed  through  a  circuit  when 
the  e.  m.  f.  was  220  volts.  What  resistance  should  be  added  in  series  with 
the  circuit  to  reduce  the  current  to  19  amperes? 

Solution.     The  resistance  in  the  first  case  was 

R  = =  4.07  ohms  (approx.) 

The  resistance  in  the  second  must  be 

220 
R  = =  11. 58  ohms  (approx.) 

The  required  resistance  to  insert  in  the  circuit  is  the  difference  of  these 
two  resistances,  or  11.58  —  4.07  =  7.51  ohms. 

Ans.  7.51  ohms. 

Fall  of  Potential  in  a  Circuit*  Fig.  28  illustrates  a  series  circuit 
in  which  the  resistances  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E  are  connected  in  series 


WWW\A 

c 


Fig.  28.     Battery  Circuit  Through  Resistances  in  Series 

with  each  other  and  with  the  source  of.  electricity.  If  the  e.  m.  f.  is 
known,  the  current  may  be  found  by  dividing  the  e.  m.  f.  by  the  sum 
of  all  the  resistances.  Ohm's  law  may,  however,  be  applied  to  any 


250 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  39 

part  of  a  circuit  separately,  as  well  as  to  the  complete  circuit.  Sup- 
pose the  resistances  of  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E  are  4,  3,  6,  3,  and  4  ohms, 
respectively,  and  assume  that  the  source  has  no  resistance.  Suppose 
the  current  flowing  to  be  12  amperes.  The  e.  m.  f.  necessary  to 
force  a  current  of  12  amperes  through  the  resistance  A  of  4  ohms  is, 
by  applying  Ohm's  law,  equal  to  E  =  R  C  =  4  X  12  =  48  volts. 
Hence,  between  the  points  a  and  b  outside  of  the  resistance  A,  there 
must  be  a  difference  of  potential  of  48  volts  to  force  the  current  through 
this  resistance.  Also  to  force  the  same  current  through  B,  the  volt- 
age necessary  is  3  X  12  =  36.  Similarly,  for  each  part  C,  D,  and 
E,  there  are  required  72,  36,  and  48  volts,  respectively. 

As  48  volts  are  necessary  for  part  A  and  36  volts  for  part  B, 
it  is  evident  that  to  force  the  current  through  both  parts  a  differ- 
ence of  potential  of  48  +  36  =  84  volts  is  required;  that  is,  the 
voltage  between  the  points  a  and  c  must  be  84  volts.  For  the  three 
parts  A,  B,  and  C,  48  +  36  +  72  =  156  volts  are  necessary,  and 
for  the  entire  circuit,  240  volts  must  be  applied  to  give  the  current  of 
12  amperes.  From  the  above  it  is  evident  that  there  is  a  gradual 
fall  of  potential  throughout  the  circuit,  and  if  the  voltage  between 
any  two  points  of  the  circuit  be  measured,  the  e.  m.  f.  obtained 
would  depend  upon  the  resistance  included  between  these  two  points. 
For  example,  the  voltage  between  points  b  and  d  would  be  found  to 
be  72  +  36  =  108  volts,  or  between  d  and  c,  36  volts,  etc.  From 
the  preceding  it  is  apparent  that  the  fall  of  potential  in  a  part  of 
a  circuit  is  equal  to  the  current  multiplied  by  the  resistance  of 
that  part. 

This  gradual  fall  of  potential,  or  drop  as  it  is  commonly  called, 
throughout  a  circuit,  enters  into  the  calculations  for  the  size  of  conduct- 
ors or  mains  supplying  current  to  distant  points.  The  resistances 
of  the  conductors  cause  a  certain  drop  in  transmitting  the  current, 
depending  upon  their  size  and  length,  and  it  is,  therefore,  necessary 
that  the  voltage  of  machines  at  the  supply  station  shall  be  great  enough 
to  give  the  voltage  necessary  at  the  receiving  stations  as  well  as  the 
additional  voltage  lost  in  the  conducting  mains. 

For  example,  in  Fig.  28  the  voltage  necessary  between  the 
points  e  and  b  is  144  volts,  but  to  give  this  voltage  the  source  must 
supply  in  addition  the  voltage  lost  in  parts  A  and  E,  which  equals 
06  volts. 


251 


40  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

EXAMPLE.  The  voltage  required  by  17  arc  lamps  connected  in  series 
is  782  volts  and  the  current  is  G.6  amperes.  The  resistance  of  the  connecting 
wires  is  7  ohms.  What  must  be  the  e.  m.  f.  applied  to  the  circuit? 

Solution.  The  drop  in  the  connecting  wires  isE=RC  =  7X  6.6  = 
46.2  volts.  The  e.m.f.  necessary  is,  therefore,  782  +  46.2  =  828.2  volts. 

Ans.  828.2+  volts. 

EXAMPLE.  The  source  of  e.  m.  f.  supplies  114  volts  to  a  circuit  made 
up  of  incandescent  lamps  and  conducting  wires.  The  lamps  require  a  voltage 
of  110  at  their  terminals,  and  take  a  current  of  12  amperes.  What  should 
be  the  resistance  of  the  conducting  wires  in  order  that  the  lamps  will  receive 
the  necessary  voltage? 

Solution.  The  allowable  drop  in  the  conducting  wires  is  114  —  110  =  4 
volts.  The  current  to  pass  through  the  wires  is  12  amperes.  Hence,  the 
resistance  must  be 

E         4 

R  =—  =  — -=  .33+  ohms 
C          12 

Ans.  .33  ohms. 

Divided  Circuits.  When  a  circuit  divides  into  two  or  more 
parts,  it  is  called  a  divided  circuit  and  each  part  will  transmit  a 
portion  of  the  current. 

Such  a  circuit  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  29,  the  two  branches  being 
represented  by  b  and  c.  The  current  passes  from  the  positive  pole 
of  the  battery  through  a  and  then  divides;  part  of  the  current  passing 


Fig.  29.     Divided  Circuits 


through  b  and  part  through  c.  The  current  then  unites  and  passes 
through  d  to  the  negative  pole  of  the  battery.  The  part  c  may  be 
considered  as  the  main  part  of  the  circuit  and  b  as  a  by-pass  about  it. 
A  branch  which  serves  as  a  by-pass  to  another  circuit  is  called  a 
shunt  circuit,  and  the  two  branches  are  said  to  be  connected  in  parallel. 
In  considering  the  passage  of  a  current  through  a  circuit  of  this 
sort,  it  may  be  necessary  to  determine  how  much  current  will  pass 
through  one  branch  and  how  much  through  the  other.  Evidently 
this  will  depend  upon  the  relative  resistance  of  the  two  branches, 
and  more  current  will  pass  through  the  branch  offering  the  lesser 


252 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  41 

resistance  than  through  the  branch  having  the  higher  resistance.  If 
the  two  parts  have  equal  resistances,  then  one-half  of  the  total  cur- 
rent will  pass  through  each  branch.  If  one  branch  has  twice  the 
resistance  of  the  other,  then  only  one-half  as  much  of  the  total  cur- 
rent will  pass  through  that  branch  as  through  the  other;  that  is,  one- 
third  of  the  total  current  will  pass  through  the  first  branch  and  the 
remaining  two-thirds  will  pass  through  the  second. 

The  relative  strength  of  current  in  the  two  branches  mill  be  in- 
versely proportional  to  their  resistances,  or  directly  proportional  to 
their  conductances. 

Suppose  the  resistance  of  one  branch  of  a  divided  circuit  is  rp  Fig. 
30,  and  that  of  the  other  is  rr  Then  by  the  preceding  law 

current  in  rl  :  current  in  r2  :  :  r2  :  rl 
Also, 

current  in  rl  :  total  current  :  :  r2  :  rl  +  r2 
and 

current  in  r2  :  total  current  :  :  rl  :  rl  +  r2 

Let  C  represent  the  total  current,  i,  the  current  through  the 
resistance  rt  and  i2  the  current  through  the  resistance  rv  Then  the 


Fig.  30.     Joint  Resistance  of  a  Divided  Circuit 

two  preceding  proportions  are  expressed  by  the  following  formulas 

Cr2  0, 

and  t,  = 


r,  +  r2  r,  +  r, 

EXAMPLE.  The  total  current  passing  in  a  circuit  is  24  amperes.  The 
circuit  divides  into  two  branches  having  resistances  of  5  and  7  ohms,  respect- 
ively. What  is  the  current  in  each  branch? 

Solution.  In  this  case  C  =  24,  rt  =  5,  and  r2  =  7.  Substituting  these 
values  in  the  above  formulas,  we  have 

7r2  24  X  7 

—  =  14  amperes 
r2         5  +  7 

7rt  24  X  5 

and  i,  =  * —  = =  10  amperes 

ri  +  r2          7  +  7 

.        j  In  5  ohm  branch,  14  amperes. 
In  7  ohm  branch,  10  amperes. 


253 


42  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

Joint  Resistance  of  Divided  Circuits.  As  a  divided  circuit  offers 
two  paths  to  the  current,  it  follows  that  the  joint  resistance  of  the 
two  branches  will  be  less  than  the  resistance  of  either  branch  alone. 
The  ability  of  a  circuit  to  conduct  electricity  is  represented  by  its 
conductance,  which  is  the  reciprocal  of  resistance;  and  the  conduct- 
ance of  a  divided  circuit  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  conductances  of 
its  parts. 

For  example,  in  Fig.  30,  the  conductance:  of  the  upper  branch 

equals  —  and  that  of  the  lower  branch  equals  —  .     If  R  represents 

ri  r2 

the  joint  resistance  of  the  two  parts  then  the  joint  conductance  equals 


R       ^       r2         r,r2 

Having  thus  obtained  the  joint  conductance,  the  joint  resist- 
ance is  found  by  taking  the  reciprocal  of  the  conductance,  that  is, 

r.  r, 


This  formula  may  be  stated  as  follows: 

The  joint  resistance  of  a  divided  circuit  is  equal  to  the  product 
of  the  two  separate  resistances  divided  by  their  sum. 

For  example,  suppose  the  resistance  of  each  branch  to  be  2 
ohms.  The  conductance  of  the  circuit  will  be, 

—  =  —  +  —  =  1,  and  hence  R  =  1  ohm 
R       2        2 

Also  by  the  preceding  formula 

R  =  ^1  =  1  ohm 

2  +  2 

The  resistance  of  a  divided  circuit  in  which  each  branch  has 
a  resistance  of  2  ohms  is,  therefore,  1  ohm. 

EXAMPLE.  The  resistances  of  two  separate  conductors  are  3  and  7 
ohms,  respectively.  What  would  be  their  joint  resistance  if  connected  in 
parallel? 

Solution.     In  this  case  rl  =  3  and  r2  =  7,  hence,  by  the  formula 


R  =  =  2.1  ohms. 

3  +  7 


254 


Ans.  2.1  ohms. 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  43 

Suppose,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  31,  the  conductors  having  resistances 
equal  to  rv  r2,  and  ra,  respectively,  are  connected  in  parallel.  The  joint  total 
conductance  will  then  be  equal  to 


and  as  the  joint  resistance  is  the  reciprocal  of  the  joint  conductance,  the  joint 
resistance  R  of  the  three  branches  is  expressed  by  the  formula 


B 


r,  r,  +  r,  r.  +  r.  rn 


EXAMPLE.     What  is  the  joint  resistance  when  connected  in  parallel,  of 
three  wires  whose  respective  resistances  are  41,  52,  and  29  ohms,  respectively? 

Solution.     In  this  case  r,  =  41,  r2  =  52,  and  ra  =  29. 
Hence,  by  the  preceding  formula, 

41  X   52  X  29 

12.8+  ohms. 


52  X  29  +  41  X  29  -I-  41  X  52 

Ans.  12.8+  ohms. 

In  general,  for  any  number  of  conductors  connected  in  parallel, 
the  joint  resistance  is  found  by  taking  the  reciprocal  of  the  sum  of 
the  reciprocals  of  the  separate  resistances. 


Fig.  31.     Triply  Divided  Circuit 

EXAMPLE.  A  circuit  is  made  up  of  five  wires  connected  in  parallel,  and 
their  separate  resistances  are  respectively  12,  21,  28,  8,  and  42  ohms.  What 
is  the  joint  resistance? 

Solution.     The  sum  of  the  conductances  is- 

_L    J_    _L    _L      i       53 

^12   +  21  +  28  +    8    +  42         168 
Hence  the  joint  resistance  equals 

168 

R  -»— —  =  3.1+  ohms 
5J 

Ans.  3.1  +  ohms. 

If  the  resistance  of  each  branch  is  known  and  also  the  poten- 
tial difference  between  the  points  of  union,  then  the  current  in  each 
branch  may  be  found  by  applying  Ohm's  law  to  each  branch  sepa- 
rately. For  example,  if  this  potential  difference  were  96  volts, 


255 


44  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

and  the  separate  resistances  of  the  4  branches  were  8,  24,  3,  and 
48  ohms,  respectively,  then  the  current  in  the  respective  branches 
would  be  12,  4,  32,  and  2  amperes,  respectively. 

If  the  current  in  each  branch  is  known,  and  also  the  potential 
difference  between  the  points  of  union,  then  the  resistance  of  each 
branch  may  likewise  be  found  from  Ohm's  law. 

The  following  examples  are  given  to  illustrate  the  application 
of  the  preceding  principles. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE 

1.  Two  conductors  having  resistances  of  71   and    19   ohms, 
respectively,  are  connected  in  parallel,  and  the  total  current  pass- 
ing in  the  circuit  is  37  amperes.     What  current  passes  in  the  con- 
ductor whose  resistance  is  71  ohms?  Ans.  7.$+  amperes. 

2.  What  is  the  joint  resistance  of  two  wires  connected  in  parallel 
if  their  separate  resistances  are  2  and  8  ohms,  respectively? 

Ans.  1.6  ohms. 

3.  What  is  the  joint  resistance  of  three  wires  when  connected 
in  parallel,  whose  separate  resistances  are  5,  7,  and   9  ohms,  re- 
spectively? Ans.  2.2+  ohms. 

4.  Three  wires,  the  respective  resistances  of  which  are  8,  10, 
and  20  ohms,  are  joined  in  parallel.     What  is  their  joint  resistance? 

Ans.  3.6+  ohms. 

5.  Four  wires  are  joined  in  parallel,  and   their  separate  re- 
sistances are  2,  4,  6,  and  9  ohms,  respectively.     What  is  the  joint 
resistance  of  the  conductor  thus  formed?  Ans.  .97+  ohms. 

WIRING  METHODS 
PLANNING  AN  INSTALLATION 

The  first  step  in  planning  a  wiring  installation,  is  to  gather  all 
tne  data  which  will  affect  cither  directly  or  indirectly  the  system  of 
wiring  and  the  manner  in  which  the  conductors  are  to  be  installed. 
The  data  will  include:  Kind  of  building;  construction  of  building; 
space  available  for  conductors;  source  and  system  of  electric-current 
supply;  and  all  details  which  will  determine  the  method  of  wiring 
to  be  employed.  These  last  items  materially  affect  the  cost  of  the 
work,  and  are  usually  determined  by  the  character  of  the  building 
and  by  commercial  considerations. 


250 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  45 

Method  of  Wiring.  In  a  modern  fireproof  building,  the  only 
system  of  wiring  to  be  recommended  is  that  in  which  the  conductors 
are  installed  in  rigid  conduits;  although,  even  in  such  cases,  it  may  be 
desirable,  and  economy  may  be  effected  thereby,  to  install  the  larger 
feeder  and  main  conductors  exposed  on  insulators  using  weather- 
proof slow-burning  wire.  This  latter  method  should  be  used,  how- 
ever, only  where  there  is  a  convenient  runway  for  the  conductors,  so 
that  they  will  not  be  crowded  and  will  not  cross  pipes,  ducts,  etc.,  and 
also  will  not  have  too  many  bends.  Also,  the  local  inspection  authori- 
ties should  be  consulted  before  using  this  method. 

For  mills,  factories,  etc.,  wires  exposed  on  cleats  or  insulators 
are  usually  to  be  recommended,  although  rigid  conduit,  flexible  con- 
duit, or  armored  cable  may  be  desirable. 

In  finished  buildings,  and  for  extensions  of  existing  outlets, 
where  the  wiring  could  not  readily  or  conveniently  be  concealed, 
moulding  is  generally  used,  particularly  where  cleat  wiring  or  other 
exposed  methods  of  wiring  would  be  objectionable.  However,  as 
has  already  been  said,  moulding  should  not  be  employed  where 
there  is  any  liability  to  dampness. 

In  finished  buildings,  particularly  where  they  are  of  frame  con- 
struction, flexible  steel  conduits  or  armored  cable  are  to  be  recom- 
mended. 

While  in  new  buildings  of  frame  construction,  knob  and  tube 
wiring  is  frequently  employed,  this  method  should  be  used  only 
where  the  question  of  first  cost  is  of  prime  importance.  While  ar- 
mored cable  will  cost  approximately  50  to  100  per  cent  more  than 
knob  and  tube  wiring,  the  former  method  is  so  much  more  perma- 
nent and  is  so  much  safer  that  it  is  strongly  recommended. 

Systems  of  Wiring.  The  system  of  wiring — that  is,  whether 
the  two-wire  or  the  three-wire  system  shall  be  used — is  usually  deter- 
mined by  the  source  of  supply.  If  the  source  of  supply  is  an  isolated 
plant,  with  simple  two-wire  generators,  and  with  little  possibility 
of  current  being  taken  from  the  outside  at  some  future  time,  the 
wiring  in  the  building  should  be  laid  out  on  the  two-wire  system.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  isolated  plant  is  three-wire  (having  three-wire 
generators,  or  two-wire  generators  with  balancer  sets),  or  if  the  cur- 
rent is  taken  from  an  outside  source,  the  wiring  in  the  building  should 
be  laid  out  on  a  three-wire  system. 


257 


46  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

It  very  seldom  happens  that  current  supply  from  a  central  station 
is  arranged  with  other  than  the  three-wire  system  inside  of  buildings, 
because,  if  the  outside  supply  is  alternating  current,  the  transformers 
are  usually  adapted  for  a  three-wire  system.  For  small  buildings, 
on  the  other  hand,  where  there  are  only  a  few  lights  and  where  there 
would  be  only  one  feeder,  the  two-wire  system  is  used.  As  a  rule, 
however,  when  the  current  is  taken  from  an  outside  source,  it  is  best 
to  consult  the  engineer  of  the  central  station  supplying  the  current, 
and  to  conform  with  his  wishes.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  should  be 
done  in  any  event,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  proper  voltage  for  the 
lamps  and  for  the  motors,  and  also  to  ascertain  whether  the  central 
station  will  supply  transformers,  meters,  and  lamps,  for,  if  these 
are  not  thus  supplied,  they  should  be  included  in  the  contract  for  the 
wiring. 

Location  of  Outlets.  A  set  of  plans,  including  elevation  and 
details,  if  any,  and  showing  decorative  treatment  of  the  various  rooms, 
should  be  obtained  from  the  architect.  A  careful  study  should 
then  be  made  by  the  architect,  the  owner,  and  the  engineer,  or  some 
other  person  qualified  to  make  recommendations  as  to  illumination. 
The  location  of  the  outlets  will  depend:  First,  upon  the  decorative 
treatment  of  the  room,  which  determines  the  aesthetic  and  architect- 
ural effects;  second,  upon  the  type  and  general  form  of  fixtures  to  be 
used,  which  should  be  previously  decided  on;  third,  upon  the  tastes 
of  the  owners  or  occupants  in  regard  to  illumination  in  general,  as 
it  is  found  that  tastes  vary  widely  in  regard  to  amount  and  kind  of 
illumination. 

The  .location  of  the  outlets,  and  the  number  of  lights  required 
at  each,  having  been  determined,  the  outlets  should  be  marked  on 
the  plans. 

The  architect  should  then  be  consulted  as  to  the  location  of  the 
centers  of  distribution,  the  available  points  for  the  risers  or  feeders, 
and  the  available  space  for  the  branch  circuit  conductors. 

In  regard  to  the  rising  points  for  the  feeders  and  mains,  the  fol- 
lowing precautions  should  be  used  in  selecting  chases: 

The  space  should  be  amply  large  to  accommodate  all  the  feeders  and 
mains  likely  to  rise  at  that  given  point.  This  seems  trite  and  unnecessary 
but  it  is  the  most  usual  trouble  with  chases  for  risers.  Formerly  architects 
and  builders  paid  little  attention  to  the  requirements  for  chases  for  electrical 


258 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  47 

work;  but  in  these  later  days  of  2-inch  and  2^-inch  conduit,  they  realize  that 
these  pipes  are  not  so  invisible  and  mysterious  as  the  force  they  serve  to  dis- 
tribute, particularly  when  twenty  or  more  such  conduits  must  be  stowed 
away  in  a  building  where  no  special  provision  has  been  made  for  them. 

If  possible,  the  space  should  be  devoted  solely  to  electric  wiring.  Steam 
pipes  are  objectionable  on  account  of  their  temperature;  and  these  and  all 
other  pipes  are  objectionable  in  the  same  space  occupied  by  the  electrical 
conduits,  for  if  the  space  proves  too  small,  the  electric  conduits  are  the  first 
to  be  crowded  out. 

The  chase,  if  possible,  should  be  continuous  from  the  cellar  to  the  roof, 
or  as  far  as  needed.  This  is  necessary  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  bends  or 
elbows,  which  are  objectionable  for  many  reasons. 

In  similar  manner,  the  location  of  cut-out  cabinets  or  distributing 
centers  should  fulfill  the  following  requirements: 

They  should  be  accessible  at  all  times. 

They  should  be  placed  sufficiently  close  together  to  prevent  the  circuits 
from  being  too  long. 

They  should  not  be  placed  in  too  prominent  a  position,  as  that  is  objec- 
tionable from  the  architect's  point  of  view. 

They  should  be  placed  as  near  as  possible  to  the  rising  chases,  in  order  to 
shorten  the  feeders  and  mains  supplying  them. 


Finished  Floor- 


?ou.gh  Flooring/  Sle 

Cement  and  Ashes 


Fig.  32.     Running  Conductors  Concealed  Under  Floor  in  Fireproof  Building 

Having  determined  the  system  and  method  of  wiring,  the  location 
of  outlets  and  distributing  centers,  the  next  step  is  to  lay  out  the  branch 
circuits  supplying  the  various  outlets. 

Before  starting  to  lay  out  the  branch  circuits,  a  drawing  showing 
the  floor  construction,  and  showing  the  space  between  the  top  of  the 
beams  and  girders  and  the  flooring,  should  be  obtained  from  the  archi- 
tect. In  fireproof  buildings  of  iron  or  steel  construction,  it  is  almost 
the  invariable  practice,  where  the  work  is  to  be  concealed,  to  run  the 
conduits  over  the  beams,  under  the  rough  flooring,  carrying  them 
between  the  sleepers  when  running  parallel  to  the  sleepers,  and  notch- 
ing the  latter  when  the  conduits  run  across  them,  Fig.  32.  In  wooden 


259 


48 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


frame  buildings,  the  conduits  run  parallel  to  the  beams  and  to  the 
furring,  Fig.  33;  they  are  also  sometimes  run  below  the  beams.  In  the 
latter  case  the  beams  have  to  be  notched,  and  this  is  allowable  only  in 
certain  places,  usually  near  the  points  where  the  beams  are  sup- 
ported. The  architect's  drawing  is,  therefore,  necessary  in  order 
that  the  location  and  course  of  the  conduits  may  be  indicated  on  the 
plans. 

The  first  consideration  in  laying  out  the  branch  circuit  is  the 
number  of  outlets  and  number  of  lights  to  be  wired  on  any  one  branch 
circuit.  The  Rules  of  the  National  Electric  Code  require  that  "no  set  of 
incandescent  lamps  requiring  more  than  660  watts,  whether  grouped 
on  one  fixture  or  on  several  fixtures  or  pendents,  will  be  dependent  on 
one  cut-out."  While  it  would  be  possible  to  have  branch  circuits 
supplying  more  than  660  watts,  by  placing  various  cut-outs  at  different 
points  along  the  route  of  the  branch  circuit,  so  as  to  subdivide  it  into 
small  sections  to  comply  with  the  rule,  this  method  is  not  recommended, 
except  in  certain  cases,  for  exposed  wiring  in  factories  or  mills.  As 
a  rule,  the  proper  method  is  to  have  the  cut-outs  located  at  the  center 


Stud  or 
Wall 


Finished  Floor^ 

Stud  or 
Wall 

Wooden  Beam 
x  Furring  Strips  -^^_ 

ISE^                       KSfrtl 

Rough  Flooring 
/Conduit 

Lathing  / 

"^Plastering 

Fig.  33.     Running  Conductors  Concealed  Under  Floor  in  Wooden  Frame  Building 

of  distribution,  and  to  limit  each  branch  circuit  to  660  watts,  which 
corresponds  to  twelve  or  thirteen  50-watt  lamps,  twelve  being  the 
usual  limit.  Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  the  inspectors  usually 
allow  50  watts  for  each  socket  connected  to  a  branch  circuit;  and 
although  8-candle-power  lamps  may  be  placed  at  some  of  the  outlets, 
the  inspectors  hold  that  the  standard  lamp  is  approximately  50  watts, 
and  for  that  reason  there  is  always  the  likelihood  of  a  lamp  of  that 
capacity  being  used,  and  their  inspection  is  based  on  that  assumption. 
Therefore,  to  comply  with  the  requirements,  an  allowance  of  not 
more  than  twelve  lamps  per  branch  circuit  should  be  made. 


260 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  49 

In  ordinary  practice,  however,  it  is  best  to  reduce  this  number 
still  further,  so  as  to  make  allowance  for  future  extensions  or  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  lamps  that  may  be  placed  at  any  outlet.  For 
this  reason,  it  is  wise  to  keep  the  number  of  the  outlets  on  a  circuit  at 
the  lowest  point  consistent  with  economical  wiring.  It  has  been 
proven  by  actual  practice,  that  the  best  results  are  obtained  by  limit- 
ing the  number  to  five  or  six  outlets  on  a  branch  circuit.  Of  course, 
where  all  the  outlets  have  a  single  light  each,  it  is  frequently  neces- 
sary, for  reasons  of  economy,  to  increase  this  number  to  eight,  ten, 
and,  in  some  cases,  twelve  outlets. 

Now,  as  to  the  course  of  the  circuit  work,  little  need  be  said, 
as  it  is  largely  influenced  by  the  relative  position  of  the  outlets,  cut- 
outs, switches,  etc.  Between  the  cut-out  box  and  the  first  outlet,  and 
between  the  outlets,  it  will  have  to  be  decided,  however,  whether 
the  circuits  shall  run  at  right  angles  to  the  walls  of  the  building  or 
room,  or  whether  they  shall  run  direct  from  one  point  to  another, 
irrespective  of  the  angle  they  make  to  the  sleepers  or  beams.  Of 
course,  in  the  latter  case,  the  advantages  are  that  the  cost  is  some- 
what less  and  the  number  of  elbows  and  bends  is  reduced.  If  the 
tubes  are  bent,  however,  instead  of  using  elbows,  the  difference  in 
cost  is  usually  very  slight,  and  probably  does  not  compensate  for  the 
disadvantages  that  would  result  from  running  the  tubes  diagonally. 
As  to  the  number  of  bends,  if  branch  circuit  work  is  properly  laid 
out  and  installed,  and  a  proper  size  of  tube  used,  it  rarely  happens 
that  there  is  any  difference  in  "pulling"  the  branch  circuit  wires. 
It  may  happen,  in  the  event  of  a  very  long  run  or  one  having  a  large 
number  of  bends,  that  it  might  be  advisable  to  adopt  a  short  and 
more  direct  route. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  location  of  the  distribution  centers  has  been 
made  solely  with  reference  to  architectural  considerations;  but  they 
must  now  be  considered  in  conjunction  with  the  branch  circuit  work. 

It  frequently  happens  that,  after  running  the  branch  circuits 
on  the  plans,  we  find,  in  certain  cases,  that  the  position  of  centers  of 
distribution  may  be  changed  to  advantage,  or  sometimes  certain 
groups  may  be  dispensed  with  entirely  and  the  circuits  run  to  other 
points.  We  now  see  the  wisdom  of  ascertaining  from  the  architect 
where  cut-out  groups  may  be  located,  rather  than  selecting  particular 
points  for  their  location. 


261 


50  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

As  a  rule,  wherever  possible,  it  is  wise  to  limit  the  length  of  each 
branch  circuit  to  100  feet;  and  the  number  and  location  of  the  dis- 
tributing centers  should  be  determined  accordingly. 

It  may  be  found  that  it  is  sometimes  necessary  and  even  desirable 
to  increase  the  limit  of  length.  One  instance  of  this  may  be  found  in 
hall  or  corridor  lights  in  large  buildings.  It  is  generally  desirable, 
in  such  cases,  to  control  the  hall  lights  from  one  point;  and,  as  the 
number  of  lights  at  each  outlet  is  generally  small,  it  would  not  be 
economical  to  run  mains  for  sub-centers  of  distribution.  Hence, 
in  instances  of  this  character,  the  length  of  runs  will  frequently  exceed 
the  limit  named.  In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  however,  the  best 
results  are  obtained  by  limiting  the  runs  to  90  or  100  feet. 

There  are  several  good  reasons  for  placing  such  a  limit  on  the 
length  of  a  branch  circuit.  To  begin  with,  assuming  that  we  are  going 
to  place  a  limit  on  the  loss  in  voltage  (drop)  from  the  switchboard  to 
the  lamp,  it  may  easily  be  proven  that  up  to  a  certain  reasonable 
limit  it  is  more  economical  to  have  a  larger  number  of  distributing 
centers  and  shorter  branch  circuits,  than  to  have  fewer  centers  and 
longer  circuits.  It  is  usual,  in  the  better  class  of  work,  to  limit  the 
loss  in  voltage  in  any  branch  circuit  to  approximately  one  volt.  As- 
suming this  limit  (one  volt  loss),  it  can  readily  be  calculated  that  the 
number  of  lights  at  one  outlet  which  may  be  connected  on  a  branch 
circuit  100  feet  long  (using  No.  14  B.  &  S.  wire),  is  four;  or  in  the 
case  of  outlets  having  a  single  light  each,  five  outlets  may  be  con- 
nected on  the  circuit,  the  first  being  60  feet  from  the  cut-out,  the  others 
being  10  feet  apart. 

These  examples  are  selected  simply  to  show  that,  if  the  branch 
circuits  are  much  longer  than  100  feet,  the  loss  must  be  increased 
to  more  than  one  volt,  or  else  the  number  of  lights  that  may  be  con- 
nected to  one  circuit  must  be  reduced  to  a  very  small  quantity,  pro- 
vided, of  course,  the  size  of  the  wire  remains  the  same. 

Either  of  these  alternatives  is  objectionable — the  first,  on  the 
score  of  regulation;  and  the  second,  from  an  economical  standpoint. 
If,  for  instance,  the  loss  in  a  branch  circuit  with  all  the  lights  turned 
on -is  four  volts  (assuming  an  extreme  case),  the  voltage  at  which  a 
lamp  on  that  circuit  burns  will  vary  from  four  volts,  depending  on  the 
number  of  lights  burning  at  a  time.  This,  of  course,  will  cause  the 
lamp  to  burn  below  candle-power  when  all  the  lamps  are  turned  on, 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  51 

or  else  to  diminish  its  life  by  burning  above  the  proper  voltage  when 
it  is  the  only  lamp  burning  on  the  circuit.  Then,  too,  if  the  drop  in 
the  branch  circuits  is  increased,  the  sizes  of  the  feeders  and  the  mains 
must  be  correspondingly  increased  (if  the  total  loss  remains  the  same), 
thereby  increasing  their  cost. 

If  the  number  of  lights  on  the  circuit  is  decreased,  we  do  not  use 
to  good  advantage  the  available  carrying  capacity  of  the  wire. 

Of  course,  one  solution  of  the  problem  would  be  to  increase  the 
size  of  the  wire  for  the  branch  circuits,  thus  reducing  the  drop.  This, 
however,  would  not  be  desirable,  except  in. certain  cases  where  there 
were  a  few  long  circuits,  such  as  for  corridor  lights  or  other  special 
control  circuits.  In  such  instances  as  these,  it  would  be  better  to 
increase  the  sizes  of  the  branch  circuit  to  No.  12  or  even  No.  10 
B.  &.  S.  gauge  conductors,  than  to  increase  the  numbers  of  centers 
of  distribution  for  the  sake  of  a  few  circuits  only,  in  order  to  reduce 
the  number  of  lamps  (or  loss)  within  the  limit. 

The  method  of  calculating  the  loss  in  conductors  has  been  given 
elsewhere;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  in  calculating  the  loss  of  a 
branch  circuit  supplying  more  than  one  outlet,  that  separate  calcu- 
lations must  be  made  for  each  portion  of  the  circuit.  That  is,  a 
calculation  must  be  made  for  the  loss  to  the  first  outlet,  the  length  in 
this  case  being  the  distance  from  the  center  of  distribution  to  the  first 
outlet,  and  the  load  being  the  total  number  of  lamps  supplied  by  the 
circuit.  The  next  step  would  be  to  obtain  the  loss  between  the  first 
and  second  outlet,  the  length  being  the  distance  between  the  two  out- 
lets, and  the  load,  in  this  case,  being  the  total  number  of  lamps  sup- 
plied by  the  circuit,  minus  the  number  supplied  by  the  first  outlet; 
and  so  on.  The  loss  for  the  total  circuit  would  be  the  sum  of  these 
losses  for  the  various  portions  of  the  circuits. 

Feeders  and  Mains.  If  the  building  is  more  than  one  story,  an 
elevation  should  be  made  showing  the  height  and  number  of  stories. 
On  this  elevation,  the  various  distributing  centers  should  be  shown 
diagrammatically;  and  the  current  in  amperes  supplied  through 
each  center  of  distribution,  should  be  indicated  at  each  center.  The 
next  step  is  to  lay  out  a  tentative  system  of  feeders  and  mains,  and  to 
ascertain  the  load  in  amperes  supplied  by  each  feeder  and  main. 
The  estimated  length  of  each  feeder  and  main  should  then  be  deter- 
mined, and  calculation  made  for  the  loss  from  the  switchboard  to 


263 


52  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

each  center  of  distribution.  It  may  be  found  that  in  some  cases  it 
will  be  necessary  to  change  the  arrangement  of  feeders  or  mains,  or 
even  the  centers  of  distribution,  in  order  to  keep  the  total  loss  from 
the  switchboard  to  the  lamps  within  the  limits  previously  determined. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,. in  important  work,  it  is  always  best  to  lay  out  the 
entire  work  tentatively  in  a  more  or  less  crude  fashion,  according  to 
the  "cut-and-dried"  method,  in  order  to  obtain  the  best  results,  be- 
cause the  entire  layout  may  be  modified  after  the  first  preliminary 
layout  has  been  made.  Of  course,  as  one  becomes  more  experienced 
and  skilled  in  these  matters,  the  final  layout  is  often  almost  identical 
with  the  first  preliminary  arrangement. 

WIRING  AN  OFFICE  BUILDING 

The  building  selected  as  a  typical  sample  of  a  wiring  installation 
is  that  of  an  office  building  located  in  Washington,  D.  C.  The  figures 
shown  are  reproductions  of  the  plans  actually  used  in  installing  the 
work. 

The  building  consists  of  a  basement  and  ten  stories.  It  is  of 
fireproof  construction,  having  steel  beams  with  terra-cotta  flat  arches. 
The  main  walls  are  of  brick  and  the  partition  walls  of  terra-cotta 
blocks,  finished  with  plaster.  There  is  a  space  of  approximately  five 
inches  between  the  top  of  the  iron  beams  and  the  top  of  the  finished 
floor,  of  which  space  about  3  inches  was  available  for  running  the 
electric  conduits.  The  flooring  is  of  wood  in  the  offices,  but  of  concrete, 
mosaic,  or  tile  in  the  basement,  halls,  toilet-rooms,  etc. 

The  electric  current  supply  is  derived  from  the  mains  of  the  local 
illuminating  company,  the  mains  being  brought  into  the  front  of  the 
building  and  extending  to  a  switchboard  located  near  the  center  of  the 
basement.  % 

As  the  building  is  a  very  substantial  fireproof  structure,  the  only 
method  of  wiring  considered  was  that  in  which  the  circuits  would  be 
installed  in  iron  conduits. 

Electric  Current  Supply.  The  electric  current  supply  is  direct 
current,  two-wire  for  power,  and  three-wire  for  lighting,  having  a 
potential  of  236  volts  between  the  outside  conductors,  and  118  volts 
between  the  neutral  and  either  outside  conductor. 

Switchboard.  On  the  switchboard  in  the  basement  are  mounted 
wattmeters,  provided  by  the  local  electric  company,  and  the  various 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  53 

switches  required  for  the  control  and  operation  of  the  lighting  and 
power  feeders.  There  is  a  total  of  ten  triple-pole  switches  for  light- 
ing, and  eighteen  for  power.  An  indicating  voltmeter  and  ampere 
meter  are  also  placed  in  the  switchboard.  A  voltmeter  is  provided 
with  a  double-throw  switch,  and  so  arranged  as  to  measure  the  poten- 
tial across  the  two  outside  conductors,  or  between  the  neutral  con- 
ductor and  either  of  the  outside  conductors.  The  ampere  meter  is 
arranged  with  two  shunts,  one  being  placed  in  each  outside  leg;  the 
shunts  are  connected  with  a  double-pole,  double-throw  switch,  so 
that  the  ampere  meter  can  be  connected  to  either  shunt  and  thus 
measure  the  current  supplied  on  each  side  of  the  system. 

Character  of  Load.  The  building  is  occupied  partly  as  a  news- 
paper office,  and  there  are  several  large  presses  in  addition  to  the  usual 
linotype  machines,  trimmers,  shavers,  cutters,  saws,  etc.  There  are 
also  electrically-driven  exhaust  fans,  house  pumps,  air-compressors, 
etc.  The  upper  portion  of  the  building  is  almost  entirely  devoted 
to  offices  rented  to  outside  parties.  The  total  number  of  motors 
supplied  was  55;  and  the  total  number  of  outlets,  1,100,  supplying 
2,400  incandescent  lamps  and  4  arc  lamps. 

Feeders  and  Mains.  The  arrangement  of  the  various  feeders 
and  mains,  the  cut-out  centers,  mains,  etc.,  which  they  supply,  are 
shown  diagrammatically  in  Fig.  34,  which  also  gives  in  schedule  the 
sizes  of  feeders,  mains,  and  motor  circuits,  and  the  data  relating  to  the 
cut-out  panels. 

Although  the  current  supply  was  to  be  taken  from  an  outside 
source,  yet,  inasmuch  as  there  was  a  probability  of  a  plant  being  in- 
stalled in  the  building  itself  at  some  future  time,  the  three-wire  system 
of  feeders  and  mains  was  designed,  with  a  neutral  conductor  equal 
to  the  combined  capacity  of  the  two  outside  conductors,  so  that 
120-volt  two-wire  generators  could  be  utilized  without  any  change  in 
the  feeders. 

Basement.  The  plan  of  the  basement,  Fig.  35,  shows  the  branch 
circuit  wiring  for  the  outlets  in  the  basement,  and  the  location  of  the 
main  switchboard.  It  also  shows  the  trunk  cables  for  the  inter- 
connection system  serving  to  provide  the  necessary  wires  for  telephones, 
tickers,  messenger  calls,  etc.,  in  all  the  rooms  throughout  the  building, 
as  will  be  described  later. 

To  avoid  confusion,  the  feeders  were  not  shown  on  the  basement 


265 


ONDUCTORS  IN  ONE 

X*  SEPARATE  CONDUIT  FOR  E  AGH  CONDUCTOR 
»  II  THIS  FEEDER  IS  TO  BE  DIVIDED  INTO  FOUR  (-4) 
;     CONDUCTORS  OF  *  2000000  CM. 
-      EACH  CONDUCTOR  13  TO  BE  INSTALLED  IN  A  SEP- 

3"  (INSIDE  OIAM}  CONDUIT 


»»  SEPARATE   3"  (INSIDE  OIAM)CONDUIT  FOR  EACH 
••      CONDUCTOR 


Fig.  34.     Wiring  of  an  Office  Building.    Diagram  Showing  Arrangement  of  Feeders  and  Mains 
Cut-Out  Centers,  etc. 


966 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


55 


SCHEDULE     OF     CIRCUITS 


NO.  2      RISES   TO    2"d  FUOOR 


Key  Showintf  Explanation 
f  Various  Symbols  used  in 
to  46  Inclusive 


CeiKntf  Oandelier 

Wall  Bracket 

•• -Gooseneck  BracXet 

• Wall  Socket 

o Drop  Cord 

a ^rc  Lamp 

> -Cooper-Hewitt  Lamp 

•- -Cluster 

• Floor  Outlet 

•--- Oesk  Lltfnt 

0— Extension  Outlet 

A Push  Button  Switch 

A Snap  Switch 

• -Junction  Box 

O Electric  Clock 

Q Master  Clock 

EH Motor    Starter 

- CutOut   Ftanel 

Box 

Power    Pbnal 
full    Box 

— — Circuit  unier  Floor 

above 


---- — * 


Fig.  35.     Wiring  an  Office  Building.    Basement  Plan  Showing  Branch  Circuit  Wiring  for  Out- 

leta  in  Basement,  Location  of  Main  Switchboard,  and  Trunk  Cables  of  the  Intercon- 

naction  System  Providing  Wires  for  Telephone,  Ticker,  and  Messenger  Call 

Service,  etc. 


267 


56  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

plan,  but  were  described  in  detail  in  the  specification,  and  installed 
in  accordance  with  directions  issued  at  the  time  of  installation.  The 
electric  current  supply  enters  the  building  at  the  front,  and  a  service 
switch  and  cut-out  are  placed  on  the  front  wall.  From  this  point,  a 
two- wire  feeder  for  power  and  a  three-wire  feeder  for  lighting,  are 
run  to  the  main  switchboard  located  near  the  center  of  the  basement. 
Owing  to  the  size  of  the  conduits  required  for  these  supply  feeders,  as 
well  as  the  main  feeders  extending  to  the  upper  floors  of  the  building, 
the  said  conduits  are  run  exposed  on  substantial  hangers  suspended 
from  the  basement  to  the  ceiling. 

First  Floor.  The  rear  portion  of  the  building  from  the  basement 
through  the  first  floor,  and  including  the  mezzanine  floor,  between 
the  first  and  second  floors,  at  the  rear  portion  of  the  building  only, 
is  utilized  as  a  press  room  for  several  large  and  heavy  modern 
newspaper  presses.  The  motors  and  controllers  for  these  presses 
are  located  on  the  first  floor.  A  separate  feeder  for  each  of  these 
press  motors  is  run  directly  from  the  main  switchboard  to  the 
motor  controller  in  each  case.  Empty  conduits  were  provided,  ex- 
tending from  the  controllers  to  the  motor  in  each  case,  intended 
for  the  various  control  wires  installed  by  the  contractor  for  the  press 
equipments. 

One-half  of  the  front  portion  of  the  first  floor  is  utilized  as  a  news- 
paper office;  the  remaining  half,  as  a  bank. 

Second  Floor.  The  rear  portion  of  the  second  floor  is  occupied 
as  a  composing  and  linotype  room,  and  is  illuminated  chiefly  by  means 
of  drop-cords  from  outlets  located  over  the  linotype  machines  and 
over  the  compositors'  cases.  Separate  f-horse-power  motors  are 
provided  for  each  linotype  machine,  the  circuits  for  the  same  being 
run  underneath  the  floor. 

Upper  Floors.  The  upper  floors  are  similar  in  all  respects  with 
the  exception  of  certain  changes  in  partitions,  which  are  not  material 
for  the  purpose  of  illustration  or  for  practical  example.  The  circuit 
work  is  sufficiently  intelligible  from  the  plan  to  require  no  further 
explanation. 

Interconnection  System.  In  the  interconnection  system,  the 
main  interconnection  box  is  located  in  the  basement;  adjoining  this 
main  box  is  located  the  terminal  box  of  the  local  telephone  company. 
A  separate  system  of  feeders  is  provided  for  the  ticker  system,  as  these 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


57 


conductors  require  somewhat  heavier  installation,  and  it  was  thought 
inadvisable  to  place  them  in  the  same  conduits  with  the  telephone 
wires,  owing  to  the  higher  potential  of  ticker  circuits.  A  separate 
interconnection  cable  runs  to  each  floor,  for  telephone  and  messenger 
call  purposes;  and  a  central  box  is  placed  near  the  rising  point  at  each 
floor,  from  which  run  subsidiary  cables  to  several  points  symmetrically 
located  on  the  various  floors.  From  these  subsidiary  boxes,  wires  can 
be  run  to  the  various  offices  requiring  telephone  or  other  service. 
Small  pipes  are  provided  to  serve  as  race- 
ways from  office  to  office,  so  as  to  avoid 
cutting  partitions.  In  this  way,  wires  can 
be  quickly  provided  for  any  office  in  the 
building  without  damaging  the  building 
in  any  way  whatever;  and,  as  provision 
is  made  for  a  special  wooden  moulding 
near  the  ceiling  to  accommodate  these 
wires,  they  can  be  run  around  the  room 
without  disfiguring  the  walls.  All  the 
main  cables  and  subsidiary  wires  are  con- 
nected with  special  interconnection  blocks  numbered  serially;  and 
a  schedule  is  provided  in  the  main  interconnection  box  in  the  base- 
ment, which  enables  any  wire  originating  thereat,  to  be  readily  and 
conveniently  traced  though  the  building.  All  the  main  cables  and 
subsidiary  cables  are  run  in  iron  conduits. 

OUTLET-BOXES,  CUT-OUT  PANELS,  AND  OTHER  ACCESSORIES 
Outlet  Boxes.     Before  the  introduction  of  iron  conduits,  outlet- 


Fig.  36.     Universal  and  Knock 
Out  Type  of  Outlet  Box 


Fig.  37.     Water-Tight  Outlet  Box 

boxes  were  considered  unnecessary,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  were 
not  used,  the  conduits  being  brought  to  the  outlet  and  cut  off  after  the 


58 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


walls  and  ceilings  were  plastered.  With  the  introduction  of  iron  con- 
duits, however,  the  necessity  for  outlet-boxes  was  realized;  and  the 
Rules  of  the  Fire  Underwriters  were  modified  so  as  to  require  their  use. 
The  Rules  of  the  National  Electric  Code  now  require  outlet-boxes  to 
be  used  with  rigid  iron  and  flexible  steel  conduits,  and  with  armored 
cables.  A  portion  of  the  rule  requiring  their  use  is  as  follows: 

All  interior  conduits  and  armored  cables  must  be  equipped  at  every 
outlet  with  an  approved  outlet-box  or  plate. 

Outlet-plates  must  not  be  used  where  it  is  practicable  to  install  outlet- 
boxes. 

In  buildings  already  constructed,  where  the  conditions  are  such  that 
neither  outlet-box  nor  plate  can  be  installed,  these  appliances  may  be  omitted 
by  special  permission  of  the  inspection  department  having  jurisdiction,  pro- 
viding the  conduit  ends  are  bushed  and  secured. 


Types  of  Floor  Outlet  Boxes 


Fig.  39. 


Fig.  36  shows  a  typical  form  of  outlet-box  for  bracket  or  ceiling 
outlets  of  the  universal  type.  When  it  is  desired  to  make  an  opening 
for  the  conduits,  a  blow  from  a  hammer  will  remove  any  of  the  weak- 
ened portion  of  the  wall  of  the  outlet-box,  as  may  be  required.  This 
form  of  outlet-box  is  frequently  referred  to  as  the  knock-out  type. 
Other  forms  of  outlet-boxes  are  made  with  the  openings  cast  in  the 
box  at  the  required  points,  this  class  being  usually  stronger  and  better 
made  than  the  universal  type.  The  advantages  of  the  universal 
type  of  outlet-box  are  that  one  form  of  box  will  serve  for  any  ordinary 
conditions,  the  openings  being  made  according  to  the  number  of 
conduits  and  the  directions  in  which  they  enter  the  box. 

Fig.  37  shows  a  waterproof  form  of  outlet-box  used  out  of  doors, 
or  in  other  places  where  the  conditions  require  the  use  of  a  water- 
tight and  waterproof  outlet-box. 

It  will  be  seen  in  this  case,  that  the  box  is  threaded  for  the  con- 


270 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


59 


duits,  and  that  the  cover  is  screwed  on  tightly  and  a  flange  provided 
for  a  rubber  gasket. 

Figs.  38  and  39  show  water-tight  floor  boxes  which  are  for  outlets 
located  in  the  floor.  While  the  rules  do  not  require  that  the  floor  outlet 


Fig.  40.     Conduit  Bushing 

box  shall  be  water-tight,  it  is  strongly  recommended  that  a  water- 
tight outlet  be  used  in  all  cases  for  floor  connections.  In  this  case 
also,  the  conduit  opening  is  threaded,  as  well  as  the  stem  cover  through 
which  the  extension  is  made  in  the  conduit  to  the  desk  or  table.  When 
the  floor  outlet  connection  is  not  required, 
the  stem  cover  may  be  removed  and  a  flat 
blank  cover  be  used  to  replace  the  same. 

There  is  hardly  any  limit  to  the  number 
and  variety  of  makes  of  outlet-boxes  on  the 
market,  adapted  for  ordinary  and  for  special 
conditions;  but  the  types  here  illustrated  are  characteristic  and  typ- 
ical forms. 

Bushings.     The  Rides  of  the  National  Electric  Code  require  that 
conduits  entering  junction-boxes,  outlet-boxes,   or  cut-out  cabinets 


Fig.  41.     Lock-Nut 


Fig.  42.     Panel-Box  Terminal  Bushing 

shall  be  provided  with  approved  bushings,  fitted  to  protect  the  wire 
from  abrasion. 

Fig.  40  shows  a  typical  form  of  conduit  bushing.  This  bushing 
is  screwed  on  the  end  of  the  conduit  after  the  latter  has  been  intro- 
duced into  the  outlet-box,  cut-out  cabinet,  etc.,  thereby  forming  an 


271 


60  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

insulated  orifice  to  protect  the  wire  at  the  point  where  it  leaves  the 
conduits,  and  to  prevent  abrasion,  grounds,  short  circuits,  etc.  A 
lock-nut,  Fig.  41,  is  screwed  on  the  threaded  end  of  the  conduit  before 
the  conduit  is  placed  in  the  outlet-box 
or  cut-out  cabinet,  and  this  lock-nut 
and  bushing  clamp  the  conduit  securely 
in  position.  Fig.  42  shows  a  terminal 

Fig.  43      Copper-Tipped  Fuse  Link      busning  for  panel-boxeS  USed  for  flexible 

steel  conduit  or  armored  cable. 

The  Rules  of  the  National  Electric  Code  require  that  the  metal 
of  conduits  shall  be  permanently  and  effectually  grounded,  so  as  to 
insure  a  positive  connection  for  grounds  or  leaking  currents,  and 
in  order  to  provide  a  path  of  least  resistance  to  prevent  the  current 
from  finding  a  path  through  any  source  which  might  cause  a  fire. 
At  outlet-boxes,  the  conduits  and  gas  pipes  must  be  fastened  in  such  a 


HP. 


Fig.  44.     Edison  Fuse-Plug  Fig.  45.     Porcelain  Cut-Out  Block 

manner  as  to  insure  good  electrical  connection;  and  at  centers  of  dis- 
tribution, the  conduits  should  be  joined  by  suitable  bond  wires,  pref- 
erably of  copper,  the  said  bond  wires  being  connected  to  the  metal 


Fig.  46.     Enclosed  or  "Cartridge"  Fuse 

structure  of  the  building,  or,  in  case  of  a  building  not  having  an  iron 
or  steel  structure,  being  grounded  in  a  permanent  manner  to  water  or 
gas-piping. 

Fuse=Boxes,  Cut=0ut  Panels,  etc.  From  the  very  outset,  the 
necessity  was  apparent  of  having  a  protective  device  in  circuit  with 
the  conductor  to  protect  it  from  overload,  short  circuits,  etc.  For 
this  purpose,  a  fusible  metal  having  a  low  melting  point  was  em- 


272 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


61 


ployed.  The  form  of  this  fuse  has  varied  greatly.  Fig.  43  shows 
a  characteristic  form  of  what  is  known  as  the  link  fuse  with  copper 
terminals,  on  which  is  stamped  the  capacity  of  the  fuse.  > 


Fig.  47.     Section  of  Enclosed  Fuse 

The  form  of  fuse  used  probably  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other, 
although  it  is  now  being  superseded  by  other  more  modern  forms, 
is  that  known  as  the  Edison  fuse-plug,  shown  in  Fig.  44.  A  porcelain 
cut-out  block  used  with  the  Edison  fuse  is  shown  in  Fig.  45. 

Within  the  last  four  or  five  years,  a  new  form  of  fuse,  known  as 
the  enclosed  fuse,  has  been  introduced  and  used  to  a  considerable 


Fig.  48.     Porcelain  Cut-Outs  in  Wooden  Box 

extent.  A  fuse  of  this  type  is  shown  in  Fig.  46.  Fig.  47  gives  a  sec- 
tional view  of  this  fuse,  showing  the  porous  filling  surrounding  the 
fuse-strips,  and  also  the  device  for  indicating  when  the  fuse  has 
blown.  This  form  of  fuse  is  made  with  various  kinds  of  terminals; 
it  can  be  used  with  spring  clips  in  small  sizes,  and  with  a  post  screw 
contact  in  larger  sizes.  For  ordinary  low  potentials  this  fuse  is  de- 
sirable for  currents  up  to  25  amperes;  but  it  is  a  debatable  question 


273 


62 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


TABLE  VI 

Carrying  Capacity  of  Wires 


B.  &  S.  GADOE 

CIRCULAR  MILS 

RUBBER 

INSULATION 

OTHER 
INSULATION 

AMPERES 

AMPERES 

18 

1,624 

3 

5 

16 

2,583 

6 

8 

14 

4,107 

12 

16 

12 

6,530 

17 

23 

10 

10,380 

24 

32 

8 

16,510 

33 

46 

6 

26,250 

46 

65 

5 

33,100 

54 

77 

4 

41,740 

65 

92 

3 

52,630 

76 

110 

2 

66,370 

90 

131 

1 

83,690 

107 

156 

0 

105,500 

127 

185 

00 

133,100 

150 

220 

000 

167,800 

177 

262 

0000 

211,600 

210 

312 

200,000 

200 

300 

300,000 

270 

400 

400,000 

330 

500 

500,000 

390 

590 

600,000 

450 

680 

700,000 

500 

760 

800,000 

550 

840 

900,000 

600 

920 

1,000,000 

650 

1,000 

1,100,000 

690 

1,080 

1,200,000 

730 

1,150 

1,300,000 

770 

1,220 

1,400,000 

810 

1,290 

1,500,000 

850 

1,360 

1,600,000 

890 

1,430 

1,700,000 

930 

1,490 

1,800,000 

970 

1,550 

1,900,000 

1,010 

1,610 

2,000,000 

1,050 

1,670 

whether  it  is  desirable  to  use  an  enclosed  fuse  for  heavier  currents. 
Fig.  48  shows  a  cut-out  box  with  Edison  plug  fuse-blocks  used  with 
knob  and  tube  wiring.  It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  connection 


274 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  63 

compartment  in  this  fuse-box,  as  the  circuits  enter  directly  opposite 
the  terminals  with  which  they  connect. 

Table  VI  shows  the  allowable  carrying  capacity  of  copper  wires 
and  cables  of  ninety-eight  per  cent  conductivity,  according  to  the 
standard  adopted  by  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers 
and  must  be  followed  in  placing  interior  conductors. 

For  insulated  aluminum  wire  the  safe-carrying  capacity  is 
84  per  cent  of  that  given  for  copper  wire  with  the  same  kind  of 
insulation. 

The  lower  limit  is  specified  for  rubber-covered  wires  to  pre- 
vent gradual  deterioration  of  the  high  insulations  by  the  heat  of  the 
wires,  but  not  from  fear  of  igniting  the  insulation.  The  question 
of  drop  is  not  taken  into  consideration  in  the  above  tables. 

The  carrying  capacity  of  Nos.  16  and  18,  B.  &  S.  gauge  wire 
is  given,  but  no  smaller  than  No.  14  is  to  be  used,  except  as  allowed 
under  rules  for  fixture  wiring. 

ARC  LAMPS 

Electric  Arc.  Suppose  two  carbon  rods  are  connected  in  an 
electric  circuit,  and  the  circuit  closed  by  touching  the  tips  of  these 
rods  together;  on  separating  the  car- 
bons again  the  circuit  will  not  be 
broken,  provided  the  space  between 
the  carbons  be  not  too  great  but  will 
be  maintained  through  the  arc  formed 
at  these  points.  This  phenomenon, 
which  is  the  basis  of  the  arc  light, 
was  first  observed  on  a  large  scale  by 
Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  who  used  a  bat- 
tery of  2,000  cells  and  produced  an  arc 
between  charcoal  points  4  inches  apart. 

As  the  incandescence  of  the  car- 
bons across  which  an  arc  is  maintained,      F>B-  49-    ™*  Electric  Arc  Between 

Carbon  Terminals 

together  with  the  arc  itself,  forms  the 

source  of  light  for  a  large  portion  of  arc  lamps,  it  will  be  well  to  study 

the  nature  of  the  arc.      Fig.  49  shows  the  general  appearance  of  an 

arc  between  two  carbon  electrodes  when  maintained  by  direct  current. 

Here  the  current  is  assumed  as  passing  from  the  top  carbon  to 


275 


64 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


the  bottom  one  as  indicated  by  the  arrow  and  signs.  We  find,  in  the 
direct-current  arc,  that  the  most  of  the  light  issues  from  the  tip  of  the 
positive  carbon,  or  electrode,  and  this  portion  is  known  as  the  crater 
of  the  arc.  This  crater  has  a  temperature  of  from  3,000°  to  3,500°  C., 
the  temperature  at  which  the  carbon  vaporizes,  and  gives  fully  80  to 
85  per  cent  of  the  light  furnished  by  the  arc.  The  negative  carbon 
becomes  pointed  at  the  same  time  that  the  positive  one  is  hollowed 
out  to  form  the  crater,  and  it  is  also  incandescent  but  not  to  as  great 
a  degree  as  the  positive  carbon.  Between  the  electrodes  there  is  a 
band  of  violet  light,  the  arc  proper,  and  this  is  surrounded  by  a  lu- 


Fig.  50.     Distribution  Curve  for  D.  C.  Arc 
Lamp  (Vertical  Plane) 

minous  zone  of  a  golden  yellow  color.  The  arc  proper  does  not  fur- 
nish more  than  5  per  cent  of  the  light  emitted  when  pure  carbon 
electrodes  are  used. 

The  carbons  are  worn  away  or  consumed  by  the  passage  of  the 
current,  the  positive  carbon  being  consumed  about  twice  as  rapidly 
as  the  negative. 

The  light  distribution  curve  of  a  direct-current  arc,  taken  in  a 
vertical  plane,  is  shown  in  Fig.  50.  Here  it  is  seen  that  the  maxi- 
mum amount  of  light  is  given  off  at  an  angle  of  about  50°  from  the 
vertical,  the  negative  carbon  shutting  off  the  rays  of  light  that  are 
thrown  directly  downward  from  the  crater. 

If  alternating  current  is  used,  the  upper  carbon  becomes  positive 
and  negative  alternately,  and  there  is  no  chance  for  a  crater  to  be 


276 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


65 


formed,  both  carbons  giving  off  the  same  amount  of  light  and  being 
consumed  at  about  the  same  rate.  The  light  distribution  curve  of 
an  alteiyiating-curreiit  arc  is  shown  in  Fig.  51. 

Arc=Lamp  Mechanisms.     In  a  practical  lamp  we  must  have  not 
only  a  pair  of  carbons  for  producing  the  arc,  but  also  means  for  sup- 


90* 


Fig.  51.     Distribution  Curve  for  A.  C.  Arc  Lamp  (Vertical  Plane) 

porting  these  carbons,  together  with  suitable  arrangements  for  leading 
the  current  to  them  and  for  maintaining  them  at  the  proper  distance 
apart.  The  carbons  are  kept  separated  the  proper  distance  by  the 
operating  mechanisms  which  must  perform  the  following  functions: 

1.  The  carbons  must  be  in  contact,  or  be  brought  into  contact,  to  start 
the  arc  when  the  current  first  flows. 

2.  They  must  be  separated  at  the  right  distance  to  form  a  proper  arc 
immediately  afterward. 

3.  The  carbons  must  be  fed  to  the  arc  as  they  are  consumed. 

4.  The  circuit  should  be  open  or  closed  when  the  carbons  are  entirely 
consumed,  depending  on  the  method  of  power  distribution. 

The  feeding  of  the  carbons  may  be  done  by  hand,  as  is  the  case 
in  some  stereopticons  using  an  arc,  but  for  ordinary  illumination  the 


277 


66 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


striking  and  maintaining  of  the  arc  must  be  automatic.  It  is  made 
so  in  all  cases  by  means  of  solenoids  acting  against  the  force  of  gravity 
or  against  springs.  There  is  an  endless  number  of  such  mechanisms, 

but  a  few  only  will  be  described 
here.  They  may  be  roughly  di- 
vided into  three  classes:  shunt 
mechanisms,  series  mechanisms, 
differential  mechanisms. 

Shunt  Mechanisms.  In  shunt 
lamps,  the  carbons  are  held  apart 
before  the  current  is  turned  on, 
and  the  circuit  is  closed  through 
a  solenoid  connected  in  across 
the  gap  so  formed.  All  of  the 
current  must  pass  through  this 
coil  at  first,  and  the  plunger  of 
the  solenoid  is  arranged  to  draw 
the  carbons  together,  thus  starting 
the  arc.  The  pull  of  the  solenoid 
and  that  of  the  springs  are  ad- 
justed to  maintain  the  arc  at  its 
proper  length. 

Such  lamps  have  the  disad- 
vantage of  a  high  resistance  at 
the  start — 450  ohms  or  more— 
and  are  difficult  to  start  on  series 

circuits,  due  to  the  high  voltage  required.  They  tend  to  maintain 
a  constant  voltage  at  the  arc,  but  do  not  aid  the  dynamo  in  its 
regulation,  so  that  the  arcs  are  liable  to  be  a  little  unsteady. 

Series  Mechanisms.  With  the  series-lamp  mechanism  the  carbons 
are  together  when  the  lamp  is  first  started  and  the  current,  flowing  in 
the  series  coil,  separates  the  electrodes,  striking  the  arc.  When  the 
arc  is  too  long,  the  resistance  is  increased  and  the  current  lowered,  so 
that  the  pull  of  the  solenoid  is  weakened  and  the  carbons  feed  together. 
This  type  of  lamp  can  be  used  only  on  constant-potential  systems. 
Fig.  52  shows  a  diagram  of  the  connection  of  such  a  lamp.  This 
diagram  is  illustrative  of  the  connection  of  one  of  the  lamps  manu- 
factured by  the  Western  Electric  Company,  for  use  on  a  direct-current, 


Fig.  52.     Series  Mechanism  for  D.  C. 
Arc  Lamp 


278 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


67 


constant-potential  system.  The  symbols  -f  and  —  refer  to  the  termi- 
nals of  the  lamp,  and  the  lamp  must  be  so  connected  that  the  current 
flows  from  the  top  carbon  to  the  bottom  one.  R  is  a  series  resistance, 
adjustable  for  different  voltages  by  means  of  the  shunt  G.  F  and  D 
are  the  controlling  solenoids  connected  in  series  with  the  arc.  B  and 
C  are  the  positive  and  negative  carbons  re-  _ 

spectively,  while  A  is  the  switch  for  turning 
the  current  on  and  off.  H  is  the  plunger  of 
the  solenoids  and  /  the  carbon  clutch,  this 
being  what  is  known  as  a  carbon-feed  lamp. 
The  carbons  are  together  when  A  is  first 
closed,  the  current  is  excessive,  and  the 
plunger  is  drawn  up  into  the  solenoids,  lift- 
ing the  carbon  B  until  the  resistance  of  the 
arc  lowers  the  current  to  such  a  value  that 
the  pull  of  the  solenoids  just  counter-balances 
the  weight  of  the  plunger  and  carbon.  G 
must  be  so  adjusted  that  this  point  is  reached  Fig.  53.  Differential  Mechan- 

,  ,  .  ,  ,          .,  ism  for  D.  C.  Arc  Lamp 

when  the  arc  is  at  its  normal  length. 

Differential  Mechanisms.  In  the  differential  lamp,  the  series  and 
shunt  mechanisms  are  combined,  the  carbons  being  together  at  the 
start,  and  the  series  coil  arranged  so  as  to  separate  them  while  the 
shunt  coil  is  connected  across  the  arc,  as  before,  to  prevent  the  car- 
bons from  being  drawn  too  far  apart.  This  lamp  operates  only  over 
a  low-current  range,  but  it  tends  to  aid  the  generator  in  its  regulation. 

Fig  53  shows  a  lamp  having  a  differential  control,  this  also  being 
the  diagram  of  a  Western  Electric  Company  arc  lamp  for  a  direct- 
current,  constant-potential  system.  Here  S  represents  the  shunt  coil 
and  M  the  series  coil,  the  armature  of  the  two  magnets  A  and  A'  being 
attached  to  a  bell-crank,  pivoted  at  B,  and  attached  to  the  carbon 
clutch  C.  The  pull  of  coil  S  tends  to  lower  the  carbon  while  that  of 
M  raises  the  carbon,  and  the  two  are  so  adjusted  that  equilibrium  is 
reached  when  the  arc  is  of  proper  length.  All  of  the  lamps  are 
fitted  with  an  air  dashpot,  or  some  damping  device,  to  prevent  too 
rapid  movements  of  the  working  parts. 

The  methods  of  supporting  the  carbons  and  feeding  them  to 
the  arc  may  be  divided  into  two  classes:  rod -feed  mechanism, 
carbon-feed  mechanism. 


279 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE 


Rod-Feed  Mechanism.  Lamps  using  a  rod-feed  have  the  upper 
carbons  supported  by  a  conducting  rod,  and  the  regulating  mechan- 
ism acts  on  this  rod,  the  current  being  fed  to  the  rod  by  means 
of  sliding  contact.  Fig.  54  shows  the  arrangement  of  this  type  of 

feed.  The  rod  is  shown  at  R, 
the  sliding  contact  at  B,  and  the 
carbon  is  attached  to  the  rod  at  C. 
These  lamps  have  the  ad- 
vantage that  carbons,  which  do 
not  have  a  uniform  cross-section 
or  smooth  exterior,  may  be  used, 
but  they  possess  the  disadvantage 
of  being  very  long  in  order  to  ac- 
commodate the  rod.  The  rod  must 
also  be  kept  clean  so  as  to  make 
a  good  contact  with  the  brush. 

Carbon-Feed  Mechanism.  In 
carbon-feed  lamps  the  controlling 
mechanism  acts  on  the  carbons 
directly  through  some  form  of 
clutch  which  grips  the  carbon 
when  it  is  lifted,  but  allows  the  car- 
bon to  slip  through  it  when  the 
tension  is  released.  For  this  type 
of  feed  the  carbon  must  be 

Fig.  54.     Rod-Feed  Mechanism 

straight  and  have  a  uniform  cross- 
section  as  well  as  a  smooth  exterior.  The  current  may  be  led  to 
the  carbon  by  means  of  a  flexible  lead  and  a  short  carbon  holder. 

MOVING=PICTURE  MACHINES 

Arc  Lamp.  Arc  lamp  used  as  a  part  of  moving  picture  machines 
must  be  constructed  similar  to  arc  lamps  of  theaters,  and  wiring  of 
same  must  not  be  of  less  capacity  than  No.  6  B.  &  S.  gauge. 

Arc  lamps  used  for  stage  effects  must  conform  to  the  following 
requirements: 

a.  Must  be  constructed  entirely  of  metal  except  where  the  use 
of  approved  insulating  material  is  necessary. 

b.  Must  be  substantially  constructed,  and  so  designed  as  to 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES  69 

provide  for  proper  ventilation,  and  to  prevent  sparks  being  emitted 
from  lamps  when  same  is  in  operation,  and  mica  must  be  used  for 
frame  insulation. 

c.  Front  opening  must  be  provided  with  a  self-closing  hinged 
door  frame  in  which  wire  gauze  or  giass  must  be  inserted,  excepting 
lens  lamps,  where  the  front  may  be  stationary,  and  a  solid  door  be 
provided  on  back  or  side. 

d.  Must  be  provided  with  a  one-sixteenth-inch  iron  or  steel 
guard  having  a  mesh  not  larger  than  1  inch,  and  be  substantially 
placed  over  top  and  upper  half  of  sides  and  back  of  lamp  frame;  this 
guard  to  be  substantially  riveted  to  frame  of  lamp,  and  to  be  placed  at 
a  distance  of  at  least  2  inches  from  the  lamp  frame. 

e.  Switch  on  standard  must  be  so  constructed  that  accidental 
contact  with  any  live  portion  of  same  will  be  impossible. 

/.  All  stranded  connections  in  lamp  and  at  switch  and  rheo- 
stat must  be  provided  with  approved  lugs. 

g.  Rheostat,  if  mounted  on  standard,  must  be  raised  to  a  height 
of  at  least  3  inches  above  floor  line,  and  in  addition  to  being 
properly  enclosed  must  be  surrounded  with  a  substantially  attached 
metal  guard  having  a  mesh  not  larger  than  1  square  inch,  which 
guard  is  to  be  kept  at  least  1  inch  from  outside  frame  of  rheostat. 

h.  A  competent  operator  must  be  in  charge  of  each  arc  lamp, 
except  that  one  operator  may  have  charge  of  two  lamps  when  they 
are  not  more  than  10  feet  apart,  and  are  so  located  that  he  can  prop- 
erly watch  and  care  for  both  lamps. 

Miscellaneous.  Rheostats  must  conform  to  rheostat  require- 
ments for  theater  arcs. 

Top  reel  must  be  encased  in  a  steel  box  with  a  hole  at  the  bottom 
only  large  enough  for  film  to  pass  through,  and  cover  so  arranged  that 
this  hole  can  be  instantly  closed.  No  solder  to  be  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  this  box. 

A  steel  box  must  be  used,  for  receiving  the  film  after  being  shown, 
with  a  hole  in  the  top  only  large  enough  for  the  film  to  pass  through 
freely,  with  a  cover  so  arranged  that  this  hole  can  be  instantly  closed. 
An  opening  may  be  placed  at  the  side  of  the  box  to  take  the  film 
out,  with  a  door  hung  at  the  top,  so  arranged  that  it  cannot  be  en- 
tirely opened,  and  provided  with  spring  catch  to  lock  it  closed.  No 
solder  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  this  box. 


281 


70  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

The  handle  or  crank  used  in  operating  the  machine  must  be 
secured  to  the  spindle  or  shaft,  so  that  there  will  be  no  liability  of  its 
coining  off  and  allowing  the  film  to  stop  in  front  of  lamp. 

A  shutter  must  be  placed  in  front  of  the  condenser,  arranged  so 
as  to  be  readily  closed. 

Extra  films  must  be  kept  in  metal  box  with  tight-fitting  cover. 

Machines  must  be  operated  by  hand  (motor  driven  will  not  be 
permitted). 

Picture  machine  must  be  placed  in  an  enclosure  or  house  made 
of  suitable  fireproof  material,  be  thoroughly  ventilated  and  large 
enough  for  operator  to  walk  freely  on  either  side  of  or  back  of  ma- 
chine. All  openings  into  this  booth  must  be  arranged  so  as  to  be 
entirely  closed  by  doors  or  shutters  constructed  of  the  same  or 
equally  good  fire-resisting  material  as  the  booth  itself.  Doors  or 
covers  must  be  arranged  so  as  to  be  held  normally  closed  by  spring 
hinges  or  equivalent  devices. 

*MERCURY=ARC  RECTIFIERS  FOR  MOTION  PICTURES 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  contributing  to  the  success 
of  a  motion-picture  theater  is  the  quality  and  brilliancy  of  the  light 
projected  from  the  lamps.  For  pleasing  effect  motion  pictures  re- 
quire a  steady,  white  light  of  sufficient  intensity  to  bring  out  the 
natural  light  and  color  values  of  the  films,  and  the  theater  having 
the  best  quality  of  light  stands  the  best  show  of  getting  the  biggest 
patronage.  It  is  well  known  that  the  light  obtained  from  the  direct- 
current  is  much  superior  to  that  from  the  alternating-current  arc 
lamps.  However,  until  recently  all  those  who  could  obtain  only 
alternating-current  supply  have  got  along  with  the  poorer  quality  of 
light  simply  for  the  lack  of  apparatus  for  economically  converting 
alternating  current  into  direct  current. 

In  Fig.  55  is  shown  a  mercury-arc  rectifier  developed  by  the 
General  Electric  Company  for  furnishing  current  of  the  desired  char- 
acter at  a  cost  less  than  that  of  the  most  economically  operated 
alternating-current  arc  lamp. 

There  are  certain  facts  which  should  be  borne  in  mind  while 
making  an  analysis  of  the  cost  of  producing  a  given  intensity  of  pro- 
jected light  from  alternating  current,  direct  current,  and  rectified 


*By  courtesy  of  the  McGraw  Publishing  Company. 


282 


^1 


a 


w  ;   .2 

«  .a 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 


71 


current  with  the  most  approved  devices  applicable  in  each  case. 
For  instance,  the  best  class  of  motion  pictures  requires  a  light  in- 
tensity of  upward  of  8,000  candle  power,  and  as  5,000  candle  power 
is  the  maximum  obtainable  from  alternating  current  with  the  best 
auto-transformers,  or  the  highest  current  values  practicable,  it  is 
evident  that  the  use  of  alternating  current  under  such  conditions  is 


Fig.  55.     Front  and  Back  Views  of  Mercury-Arc  Rectifier  for  Moving-Picture  Machine 

entirely  satisfactory  owing  to  the  insufficiency  of  the  light.  Where 
direct-current  supply  is  obtainable,  some  have  found  relief  by  using 
it,  but  their  experience  has  served  to  emphasize  the  prohibitory 
effect  of  the  additional  cost  entailed  by  the  loss  of  at  least  60  per 
cent  of  the  energy  drawn  from  the  line  in  the  resistance  or  rheostat 
employed  to  regulate  the  current  in  the  arc. 

These  facts  serve  to  define  the  limitations  of  both  the  alternating- 


285 


72  THE  MOTION  PICTURE 

current  and  the  direct-current  arc  relative  to  motion-picture  light- 
ing, but  in  order  to  give  the  various  alternating-current  methods  a 
fair  basis  for  comparison,  assume  that  a  light  intensity  of  5,000 
candle  power  is  required.  From  actual  determinations  carefully 
made  it  is  found  that  to  obtain  5,000  candle  power  from  a  110- 
volt  alternating-current  circuit  with  rheostats  requires  7  kilowatts; 
a  110-volt  direct-current  circuit  with  rheostat  requires  2.25  kilowatts; 
any  alternating-current  circuit  with  auto-transformer  requires  2.1 
kilowatts,  and  with  mercury-arc  rectifier  requires  1.7  kilowatts. 

Since  auto-transformers  are  extensively  used  in  alternating- 
current  supply  systems  to  obtain  a  substantial  reduction  in  energy 
consumption,  the  method  of  using  alternating  current  with  rheostats 
may  be  considered  as  obsolete,  and  since  a  prohibitory  amount  of 
energy  is  wasted  in  using  direct  current  with  a  rheostat,  that  method 
can  be  omitted  from  present  consideration.  This  affords  a  direct 
comparison  between  the  alternating  current  with  the  use  of  econo- 
mizers on  the  one  hand  and  mercury-arc  rectifiers  on  the  other. 

The  figures  given  above  show  a  difference  of  400  watts  in  favor 
of  the  mercury-arc  rectifier.  This  means  than  on  the  basis  of  an 
average  daily  run  of  seven  hours  at  a  cost  of  6  cents  a  kilowatt-hour 
the  use  of  a  mercury-arc  rectifier  provides  a  light  having  all  the 
advantages  of  that  given  by  a  direct-current  arc  at  a  cost  of  at  least 
$60  per  year  less  than  that  obtained  from  alternating  current  with 
the  best  type  of  auto-transformer. 

Furthermore,  it  is  evident  that  when  the  light  intensity  required 
exceeds  5,000  candle  power,  thus  rendering  the  alternating-current 
method  inapplicable,  the  saving  effected  by  the  use  of  the  mercury- 
arc  rectifier  as  compared  to  the  cost  of  using  direct  current  with  a 
rheostat  is  much  more  significant.  For  instance,  to  obtain  7,500 
candle  power  requires  3.1  kilowatts  from  direct  current  with  rheostat 
and  2.15  kilowatts  from  alternating  current  with  mercury-arc  rec- 
tifier. The  difference  in  favor  of  the  mercury-arc  rectifier  is  950 
watts,  which  means  a  saving  of  at  least  $145  per  year. 

In  addition  to  the  positive  money-saving  capability  of  the 
device,  the  excellent  light  of  practically  any  candle-power  obtainable 
from  alternating-current  supply  and  the  reliability,  ease,  and  safety 
of  operation  render  the  mercury-arc  rectifier  particularly  desirable  for 
making  pleasing  and  successful  "photo  plays." 


286 


REVIEW  QUESTIONS 


287 


REVIEW    QUESTIONS 


ON     THE!     STJBJHJOT     OV 


PHOTOGRAPHY 


1.  What  are  the  three  very  general  divisions  or  steps  in  mak- 
ing photographs? 

2.  How  would  you  focus  a  camera  upon  a  subject  to  be  pho- 
tographed? 

3.  What  is  meant  by  the  focal  length  of  a  lens? 

4.  How  would  you   measure   or   estimate  the   focal  length 
of  a  lens? 

5.  Name  more  than  one  kind  of  aberration  in  a  photographic 
lens  which  may  be  "corrected"  by  proper  lens  construction. 

6.  Name  more  than  one  kind  of  camera  shutter. 

7.  What  is  a  photographic  darkroom? 

8.  What  is  the  routine  of  camera  manipulation  to  make  a 
photographic  exposure  on  the  glass  sensitive  plate? 

9.  Seven  points  were  given  in  the  text  for  care  in  arranging 
the  image  upon  the  ground  glass.     Name  at  least  four  of  them. 

10.  The  image  having  been  arranged  upon  the  ground  glass, 
how  is  it  recorded  to  form  a  negative? 

11.  What  means  are  available  for  estimating  the  length  of  an 
exposure,  after  the  camera  is  ready? 

12.  How  does  changing  the  size  of  the  diaphragm  opening 
affect  the  exposure? 

13.  What  is  meant  by  development? 

14.  Name  more  than  one  method  of  development. 

15.  Describe  one  method  of  development,  including  fixing  and 
washing  the  negative. 

16.  What  is  meant  by  red  lamp,  ruby  lamp,  or  safe  light? 

17.  What  is  meant  by  printing? 

18.  Describe  one  process  of  printing. 


PHOTOGRAPHY 

19.  What   differences   can   you   mention   between   a   lantern 
slide  and  an  ordinary  photograph? 

20.  What  is  a  stereograph? 

21.  Define  telephotography. 

22.  Explain  the  use  of  autochrome  plates. 


290 


REVIE.W    QUESTIONS 


ON     THE     SUBJECT     OB- 


MO  T  O  a  R  A  P  H  Y 


1.  Name  some  of  the  classes  of  motion-picture  subjects  as 
classified  by  the  nature  of  the  subject. 

2.  What  divisions  of  labor  are  made  in  the  producing  of 
commercial  motion  pictures  for  amusement  purposes? 

3.  What  is  the  nature  of  a  motion-picture  drama? 

4.  What  is  the  requirement  of  a  motion-picture  comedy? 

5.  Wrhat  is  a  scrip?    Describe  how  it  is  written. 

6.  What  are  the  duties  of  a  producer? 

7.  What  is  the  order  of  work  in  producing  a  drama? 

8.  How  are  indoor  studios  lighted? 

9.  What  are  the  property  man's  duties? 

10.  What  is  a  "lecture"  and  how  is  it  written? 

11.  What   are   the   necessary   divisions   of  the  photographic 
factory  for  motion  pictures? 

12.  How  is  raw  strip  film  made  before  its  purchase  by  the 
motion-picture  factory? 

13.  What  are  the  proper  dimensions  for  film  strip,  pictures, 
and  sprocket  holes? 

14.  Name  several  of  the  features  which  a  good  motion-picture 
camera  should  have. 

15.  How  is  a  camera  man  able  to  regulate  the  photographic 
exposure  value  of  the  light  upon  the  film? 

16.  How  is  a  200-foot  motion-picture   film  developed  and 
printed? 

17.  When  and  how  are  title  negatives  made  for  a  motion 
picture? 

18.  Describe  one  process  of  making  a  title. 


291 


MOTOGRAPHY 

19.  Name  the  two  kinds  of  printing  machines.     Describe  one 
of  them  briefly. 

20.  Describe  the  processes  of  staining  a  film,  and  of  toning, 
or  monochroming,  a  film. 

21.  Describe  the  different  processes  of  coloring  films. 


REVIEW    QUESTIONS 


ON     THE     SUBJECT     OK 


MOTION-PICTURE    THEATER 


1.  In  studying  a  theater,   what  points  should   a  manager 
notice? 

2.  In  studying  a  theater  with  a  view  to  purchase,  what  points 
should  be  studied? 

3.  Name  a  few  of  the  "side  lines"  possible  in  managing  a 
motion-picture  theater  to  add  to  the  ticket-window  income. 

4.  When  should  "side  lines"  be  avoided  in  managing  a  theater? 

5.  What  are  the  steps  to  be  taken  in  starting  a  new  theater? 

6.  In  studying  the  location  of  a  new  theater  among  existing 
competing  theaters,  how  is  the  probable  income  of  the  proposed 
theater  estimated? 

7.  In  studying  a  theater  location  in  unoccupied  city  territory, 
how  is  the  probable  income  of  the  proposed  theater  estimated. 

8.  In  a  small  town,  how  is  the  probable  income  of  a  small 
theater  estimated? 

9.  How  would  you  try  to  raise  the  money  to  start  a  theater? 

10.  What  is  meant  by  the  "program"  of  a  motion-picture 
theater? 

11.  WTiat  is  a  sloping  floor  and  what  are  its  advantages? 

12.  In  what  two  ways  may  a  sloping  floor  be  put  in? 

13.  Describe  a  good  cheap  picture  screen. 

14.  Describe  the  mirror  screen. 

15.  Describe  an  airdoim. 

16.  What  means  has  the  theater  manager  for  advertising  his 
theater? 

17.  What  is  a  feature  film? 

18.  How  may  a  feature  film  be  advertised? 


MOTION-PICTURE  THEATRE 

19.  Describe  a   "special  program,"  either  describing  one  of 
the  kinds  mentioned  in  the  textbook,  or  devise  a  new  special  pro- 
gram yourself  and  describe  it. 

20.  How  would  you  proceed,  as  manager,  to  get  a  good  con- 
tract with  a  film  exchange? 

21.  What   precautions   against   the   film   exchange   must   be 
taken  in  renting  film  which  is  furnished  under  an  age  limit? 

22.  Describe  in  detail  one  "Side  Line  for  Profit." 


294 


REVIEW    QUESTIONS 


ON     THE)     SUBJECT     OF 


ELECTRICAL    PRINCIPLES 


1.  What  is  an  electrical  charge  in  motion  called? 

2.  Describe  the  simplest  form  of  a  galvanic  cell. 

3.  On   what   principles    are   electrical   currents,  in   general, 
measured? 

4.  What  does  e.  m.  f.  mean? 

5.  State  Ohm's  Law. 

6.  Describe  the  action  of  a  simple  primary  cell. 

7.  What  is  polarization  in  relation  to  primary  cells? 

8.  Discuss  the  magnetic  properties  of  a  helix. 

9.  What  is  an  electromagnet? 

10.  Make  a  diagram  of  the  connections  of  a  simple  bell. 

11.  The  resistance  of  a  certain  wire  is  7.92  ohms,  what  is  its 
inductance? 

12.  The  resistance  of  a  wire  629  feet  long  is  .27  ohms.     What 
is  the  resistance  of  the  same  wire  3,215  feet  long? 

13.  How  is  the  resistance  of  a  conductor  influenced  by  its 
cross-section? 

14.  Define  specific  resistance. 

15.  State  the  general  formula  for  resistance  calculation. 

16.  How  is  electrical  conductance  in  metal  conductors  affected 
by  temperature? 

17.  State  the  area  of  No.  10  B.  &  S.  wire  in  circular  mils  and 
its  resistance  in  ohms  per  1,000  feet. 

18.  If  the  resistance  of  a  certain  wire  is  2.3  ohms  per  1,000 
feet,  how  many  feet  of  the  wire  will  be  required  to  make  up  a  resist- 
ance of  17.8  ohms? 

19.  The  resistance  of  a  circuit  is  1.8  ohms  and  the  voltage  is 
110.     What  is  the  current? 


295 


ELECTRICAL  PRINCIPLES 

20.  Eight  cells  each  having  an  e.  m.  f.  of  9  volts  and  an  internal 
resistance  of  6  ohms  are  connected  in  parallel,  and  the  external 
resistance  of  the  circuit  is  3.4  ohms.     Find  the  current. 

21.  Which   system    of   wiring    is    recommended    in    fireproof 
buildings? 

22.  What  determines,  usually,  the  system  of  wiring? 

23.  What  is  considered  in  locating  the  outlets  for  conductors 
in  a  building? 

24.  Make  a  sketch  of  an  enclosed  fuse. 

25.  How  many  amperes  would  No.  10  B.  &  S.  rubber  insu- 
lated wire  safely  carry? ' 

26.  What  number  of  wire  would  you  select  for  transmitting 
30  amperes? 

27.  Sketch  the  series  mechanism  for  d.  c.  arc  lamps. 

28.  Describe  and  sketch  the  differential  mechanism  for  d.  c. 
arc  lamps. 

29.  What  B.  &  S.  gauge  number  must  be  used  for  arc  lamps 
in  connection  with  moving  pictures? 

30.  How  many  amperes  will  this  conductor  safely  carry? 


INDEX 


297 


INDEX 


The  page  numbers  of  this  volume  will  be  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  pages; 
the  numbers  at  the  top  refer  only  to  the  section. 

A 

Page 

Aberration 20 

Actors 105 

starring  an  actor 106 

stock  companies     105 

Advertising 197 

Advertising  drop  curtain 207 

Advertising  slides 207 

Airdome 195 

Announcement  slides 199 

Arc-lamp  mechanism 277 

differential  mechanism 279 

rod-feed  mechanism 280 

series  mechanisms 278 

Arc  lamps 275 

electric  arc 275 

mechanisms 277 

Astigmatism 22 

Author 76 

his  problems 77 

art,  limitations  of 77 

plot 77 

scenario 78 

who  is 95 

Autochrome  plates 65 

Automatic  music 203 

B 

Bianchi  camera 140 

Bichromatic  cell 226 

Blue  prints 55 

Bushings 271 

C 

Camera 11,  122 

buying 13 

construction  of 14 

exposed  and  unexposed  films 126 

Note. — For  page  numbers  tet  foot  of  pages. 


2  INDEX 

Camera  Page 

film  movement 123 

loading 127 

loading  film  holders 125 

Camera  man 122 

Camera  man's  duties 128 

control  of  image 133 

duplicate  exposures 138 

exposure  control • 134 

exposure  meters 136 

exposure  time 134 

finders 139 

focusing 132 

indicator 139 

lens  length 131 

marker 139 

reversing : 139 

setting  up  camera 131 

shutter 133 

taking  picture 128 

trick  crank 138 

turning  crank .  .  . 129 

Camera  operation,  routine  of 27 

Candy  kid 208 

Cells,  combination  of 230 

Chase  and  trick  scrip,  specimen 83 

Chases 72 

Chromatic  aberration 20 

Chronophotography • 69,  155 

motographic  microscopy 156 

motographic  untramiscroscopy 156 

X-ray  motography 156 

Colored  photographs 64 

Coloring  films 151 

hand  process 151 

machine  process 152 

stencil  process 151 

Comedy 72 

specimen 82 

Competition 171 

Conductivity '.  .  238 

Country  theater 192 

Current  events • 72 

Current  flows,  laws  of 236 

D 

Daniell  cell 227 

Darkroom 27 

Note. — For  page  numbers  sec  foot  of  -pages. 


300 


INDEX  3= 

Page 

Developing  formulas 48 

acid  hypo  fixing  bath 49 

hydro-metol  developer 48 

intensification 50 

pinholes 51 

plain  hypo  fixing  bath 48 

pyro  developer 48 

reduction 50 

removing  pyro  stains 49 

retouching  and  spot  ting 50 

Developing  papers 56 

Developing  prints 148 

Development 43 

developers 43 

factorial 46 

fixing 47 

fixing  after  washing 47 

negative  image 43 

ruby  lamp 44 

sight 44 

tank 46 

trays  and  covers 44 

washing  before  fixing 47 

without  red  lamp 47 

Drama  scrip,   specimen 78 

Dramas 72 

Drawn  pictures 73 

Dry  cell .' 229 

Dry  plates 35 

Dull  season...                                                                                           205 


Electric  arc 275 

Electric  bell 235 

Electric  signs 198 

Electrical  currents,  measurement  of 218 

Electrical  principles ...  .213-284 

arc  lamps 275 

electricity  in  motion 213 

electromagnetism 

laws  of  current  flow . 236 

mercury-arc  rectifiers 

moving-picture  machines 

primary  cells 

wiring  methods 256 

Electrical  resistance 221 

Electricity  in  motion 213 

Note. — For  page  number*  see  foot  of  pages. 


301 


4  INDEX 

Page 

Electromagnet 234 

Electromagnetism 232 

electric  bell 235 

electromagnet 234 

magnetic  properties  of  a  helix 233 

magnetic  properties  of  a  loop 232 

rules  for  north  and  south  poles  of  a  helix 233 

Electromotive  force  of  galvanic  cells 220 

Electromotive  force  and  its  measurements 218 

Exposure 35 

calculation  of 40 

duplicate 42 

exposure  meters 41 

light  intensity 38 

nature  of  subject 38 

plate  speed 37 

stop  numbers 36 

with  single  lens ' 42 

F 

Feature  films 200 

Feeders  and  mains 263 

Film,  perforation  of 119 

perforating  machines 121 

perforating  room 122 

shape 120 

spacing 120 

Film,  storage  of 119 

Film  development 141 

cages 141 

developing 142 

drying ' 142 

room 142 

trays 141 

washing m 142 

Film  industry,  branches  of 112 

Financing  a  picture  theater 175 

Fuse-boxes,  cut-out  panels,  etc 272 

G 

Galvanic  cell 214 

electromotive  forces  of 220 

internal  resistance  of 222 

Galvanic  cell  and  static  machine,  comparison  of 216 

H 

Hamacek  camera 140 

Note. — For  page  numbers  see  foot  of  pages. 


302 


INDEX  3 

Page 

Handbills 200,  208 

Hiring  employes 202 


Image 

inverted 12 

pin-hole 11 

recording 35 

Income  vs.  expense 172 

Industrial  scrip,  specimen 94 

Industrials 71 

Inverted  image 12 

K 

Keeping  accounts 203 

Kinephotography 70 

chases 72 

comedies 72 

current  events 72 

dramas 72 

industrials 71 

travels 71 

trick  pictures 72 

L 

Lantern  slides 61 

Leclanch6  cell 229 

Lens  printing 58 

enlargements 59 

Lenses 14 

astigmatism 22 

chromatic  aberration 20 

diaphragm  opening 17 

focal  length 16 

focusing 19 

measuring  length 17 

spherical  aberration 20 

Location  of  picture  theater ,: . . .  173 

among  competitors 173 

new  territory 174 

small  town 175 

M 

Magnetic  effect  due  to  a  charge  in  motion 213 

Magnetic  field  about  a  current,  shape  of 217 

Making  titles 143 

Note  — For  page  numbers  tee  foot  of  pages. 


6  INDEX 

Page 

Manager,  art  of 169 

Mercury-arc  rectifiers  for  motion  pictures 282 

Metal-surfaced  screen 186 

Mirror  screen 187 

Monochroming 149 

Motion-picture  theater 165-210 

management 165 

art  of  manager 169 

competition 171 

income  vs.  expense 172 

"sick"  motion-picture  theater 165 

theater  for  profit 172 

traffic 172 

operation 195 

advertising 197 

announcement  slides 199 

automatic  music 203 

dull  season 205 

electric  signs 198 

feature  films 200 

handbills 200 

hiring  employes 202 

keeping  accounts 203 

newspapers 200 

noise  wagon 200 

poster  service 198 

printed  programs 200 

program 196 

renting  films 202 

side  lines  for  profit 207 

song  slides 202 

special  program 201 

studying  audiences 195 

tickets  and  chopper 205 

vaudeville 203 

starting  a  theater 173 

financing 175 

selecting  location 173 

among  competitors 173 

new  territory 174 

small  town 175 

special  buildings 188 

airdome 195 

country  theater 1 92 

exclusive  picture  house 189 

small  vaudeville  theater 189 

store-front  city  theater  building 176 

Note. — For  page  numbers  tee  foot  of  pages. 


304 


INDEX  ; 

Page 

Motographic  microscopy 156 

Motographic  ultramicroscopy 156 

Motography 69-162      , 

author 77 

methods  of  production 73 

division  of  labor 76 

early , 73 

drawn  pictures 73 

photographic  process 74 

separate  cameras 74 

multiple  camera 74 

modern 75 

producer 95 

product  desired 69 

reproduction 116 

salesman 112 

Moving-picture  machine 280 

arc  lamp 280 

extra  films 282 

handle 282 

machines 282 

rheostats 281 

shutter 282 

steel  box 281 

top  reel 281 

N 

Newspaper  advertising 200 

Noise  wagon 200 

O 

Ohm's  law 222 

applications  of 248 

divided  circuits 252 

fall  of  potential  in  circuit 250 

joint  resistance  of  divided  circuits 254 

series  circuits 249 

simple  applications 248 

Operation  of  a  picture  theater 195 

Orthochromatic  photography 64 

Outlet  boxes 269 

Outlets,  location  of 258 

P 

Packing  films  for  shipment 154 

Panoramas 62 

Nott.—For  page  nvmberi  tee  foot  of  pages. 


305 


8  INDEX 

Page 

Photographer 116 

Photographic  equipment 155 

buying  cameras 155 

buying  films 155 

fire' risk  in  storing  films 155 

making  cameras -. 155 

Photographic  factory,  division  of 116 

Photographs,  colored 64 

Photography 11-66 

mechanical  details 11 

orthochromatic 64 

printing 51 

recording  image 35 

special  application  of 61 

theory 11 

tri-color 65 

Picture  house,  large  exclusive 189 

Pictures  without  studios 103 

Pin-hole  image 11 

Plate-holder 26 

Polarization 226 

bichromatic  cell 226 

Daniell  cell 227 

dry  cell 229 

LeclanchS  cell 229 

Poster  service 198 

Primary  cells 223 

action  of  a  simple  cell 223 

combination  of  cells 230 

polarization 226 

storage  battery 231 

Print  spotting 149 

Printed  program 200 

Printing 51,  144 

developing  papers. 56 

developing  prints 148 

exposure 146 

film  adjustment  during  printing 147 

hand  staining 150 

inspection  148 

lens  printing 58 

machines 144 

making  exposure  ticket 148 

print  spotting 149 

printing  frame 52 

printing-out  papers 52 

processes 51 

Note. — For  page  numbers  see  foot  of  pages. 


306 


INDEX  9 

Printing  Page 

repeater  printing 150 

room 144 

self-toning  paper 55 

staining 149 

toning  or  monochroming •„ 149 

Printing-out  papers 52 

chloride  papers 52 

combined  toning  and  fixing 55 

final  washing 54 

fixing 54 

stopping 54 

toning 53 

washing  before  toning 53 

Producer  of  picture 95 

actors 105 

pictures  without  studios 103 

producing  a  drama 107 

properties  and  costumes 105 

rehearsals 106 

studio  lighting 101 

studio  scenes 96 

Producing  a  drama 107 

final  criticism Ill 

motion  scenes 108 

padding 109 

review  and  criticism 109 

rewriting 110 

titles 110 

Producing  image 28 

background 29 

composition  and  balance 31 

distortions 34 

horizon  line 32 

lighting 30 

point  of  view 32 

principal  object 29 

prominence  of  background , 32 

rising  front 35 

size  of  object 30 

swing  back 34 

Program 19« 

Program  advertising 208 

Properties  and  costumes 105 

R 

Raw  film 117 

coating 118 

Note.— For  page  numbert  tee  foot  of  pagei. 


307 


iO  INDEX 

Raw  film  Page 

composition 117 

manufacture 117 

non-inflammable 118 

Recording  image 35 

development 43 

dry  plates 35 

exposure 35 

films 35 

Rehearsals 106 

Rentng  films 202 

Reproduction 116 

camera 122 

camera  man ' 122 

camera  man's  duties 128 

chromophotography ' . 155 

coloring  films 151 

development  of  films 141 

factory  floor  plan 140 

making  titles 143 

packing  films  for  shipment 154 

perforation  of  film 119 

photographer 116 

photographic  equipment 155 

photographic  factory 116 

printing 144 

raw  film 117 

reclaiming  waste 154 

storage  of  film 119 

trick  pictures 156 

waterproofing 154 

Resistance 236 

affected  by  heating 242 

calculation  of 239 

inversely  proportional  to  cross-section 237 

proportional  to  length 236 

specific  resistance 238 

Ruby  lamp 44 

S 

Salesman 1 12 

advance  shipment 

branches  of  film  industry 112 

factory  schedule 114 

lectures 112 

release  dates 113 

sales  contracts 115 

selling  methods 112 

Note.^For  page  numbers  see  foot  of  pages. 


308 


INDEX  ll 

Salesman  Page 

title  posters 116 

Scenario 78 

Self -toning  paper 55 

blue  prints 55 

sepia 56 

Sepia 56 

Sheet  music  sales 210 

Shutters 24 

cap 24 

curtain 24 

focal  plane. 25 

leaf 24 

testing 25 

"Sick"  motion-picture  theater 165 

Side  lines  for  profit 207 

advertising  drop  curtain 207 

advertising  slides 207 

candy  kid 208 

handbills 208 

program  advertising 2Qf 

refreshment  annex 21C 

sheet  music  sales 210 

wall  posters 207 

Sight  development 44 

Sign  flasher 199 

Simple  cell,  theory  of  action  of 224 

Slot  machines 209 

Small-vaudeville  theater , 189 

Song  slides 202 

Special  buildings 188 

airdome 195 

country  theater 192 

large  exclusive  picture  house 189 

small  vaudeville  theater 189 

Special  programs 201 

amateur  night 201 

contests 201 

double  price 202 

school  children 201 

Specific  resistance 238 

Spherical  aberration 20 

Staining 149 

Stereographs 62 

Stop  picture 161 

Storage  battery 231 

Store-front  city  theater  building 176 

elaborate  store  front 181 

Note. — For  page  numbers  tee  foot  of  page*. 


309 


12  INDEX 

Store-front  city  theater  building  Page 

floor  plan 177 

lighting  methods 179 

low-cost  store  front 179 

picture  screen 186 

sloping  floor 184 

specimen  expense  sheet 184 

stage 185 

weekly  expense  sheet 183 

Studio  lighting > 101 

artificial 101 

daylight 102 

glass  house  type 102 

turntable  type 103 

yard  studio  type 103 

Studio  scenes 96 

T 

Tables 

American  wire  gauge  (B.  &  S.) '. 244 

day  and  hour  exposure  chart 39 

equivalent  stop  numbers  in  focal-factor  and  uniform  systems 37 

exposure  chart 135 

primary  cells,  electromotive  force,  resistance,  etc 246-247 

relative  resistance  of  chemically  pure  substances  at  32°  F.  interna- 
tional ohms 240 

Stubs'  or  Birmingham  Wire  Gauge  (B.  W.  G.) 245 

temperature  coefficients 243 

wires,  carrying  capacity  of 274 

Telephotography 63 

Theater,  starting 173 

Tickets  and  chopper 205 

Title  posters 116 

Toning 149 

Traffic 172 

Travel  and  comedyscrip,  specimen 92 

Travel  scrip,  specimen 90 

Travels 71 

Trick  notes 87 

Trick  pictures 72,  156 

blackroom 160 

dissolving  views 159 

double  exposures 159 

double  printing 159 

dummies .  157 

ghosts .- 158 

mirrors 160 

reversals 157 

Note. — For  page  numbers  tee  foot  of  pages. 


310 


INDEX  13 

Trick  pictures  Page 

speed  pictures 157 

stop  picture 161 

Tri-color  photography 65 

V 

Vaudeville 203 

W 

Wall  posters ; 207 

Waterproofing 154 

Wiring  methods 256 

outlet  boxes,  cut-out  panels,  etc 269 

planning  an  installation 256 

wiring  an  office  building 264 

Wiring  an  office  building 264 

basement 265 

character  of  load 265 

electric  current  supply 264 

feeders  and  mains 265 

first  floor 268 

interconnection  system 268 

second  floor 268 

switchboard 264 

upper  floors 268 

X 

X-Ray  motography 156 

Z 

Zoetrope 73 

Note, — For  page  numbers  see  foot  of  pages. 


311 


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